Dusk
by SavageNymph
Summary: Renesmee's story.
1. Prologue

Prologue

I backed against the cold stone wall and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see my death as it came for me. Through my terror I briefly wondered how this happened. How had my families defenses failed? It hit me suddenly. I was a blind spot. No one could see me.

And now no one could hear me scream.


	2. 1 Love

Love

I watched the clock hid 11:00. Finally. I darted out of my room and then

skipped silently though the living room and into the warm night. I inhaled deeply and grinned; I had made it. Not that I had any doubt that I would. I started walking across the grass. Soon I was in the forest, my heart raced in anticipation of seeing Jacob soon.

I couldn't really remember when my feelings for Jacob and changed. When the knowledge that he was "my Jacob" changed into love. Even though I had always loved him in a way, it had changed so totally and completely. I guess that it related to the fact that I was full grown now. Frozen. Jut like my mom and dad, and grandma Esme, and grandpa Carlisle, and auntie Alice and Rosalie, and Uncle Emmet and Jasper. I smiled to myself at the word "grandma" applying to Esme. Or "grandfather" for Carlisle. Both of them were so different then Grandpa and Grandma Sue…..Of course they were though, they were human. Just like that half of me….Suddenly a disturbing thing occurred to me; was Jacob frozen? Or would he age like my human relatives? I couldn't bare the though. The idea that someday he would age and grow old….I stopped and looked around, he should be here by now…..I heard the footsteps before I smelled him. My family all thought he smelled bad, they thought all werewolves did, but he smelled like the forest to me. He stepped out from the shadows and grinned at me. "Hey, Nessie." I smiled back and ran up to him. I placed my hand on his cheek and thought about what I wanted him to see. He grinned again at the image of him leaning down to kiss me. I laced the image with a question and he stroked my hair, "don't have to ask me twice." His lips met mine, warm and soft. He had once told me that I was the only warm thing to him, that everything else felt almost cold. I could barely tell the difference. There was Jacob. And then there was my mom and dad, and the rest of my vampire family, they were all cold. But they were cold to everyone. I didn't really care.

When Jacob broke away for air he smiled at me. "I wonder what we're going to think about tomorrow." I felt my smile sour. With my dad's mind reading talent Jacob and I had to think of complicated and consuming things whenever we were near him. Just yesterday I had to re-play the day before yesterday, translating everything said into Japanese. "What did you think about yesterday?" I asked. He rolled his eyes, "ugh. I was going over every strategic move for fighting I know, over, and over again." "My dad must think we're crazy." Jacob shrugged, "don't care." I brushed his chin length hair from his face. "You need a haircut." I liked his hair short. I pressed my hand to his forehead and pictured him with short hair. Jacob rolled his eyes and tucked my hair behind my ears. "I could never be perfect like you." I blushed, "you are perfect." I whispered. Jacob kissed my cheek and then slipped his hand into my mine. "Come on, let's go for a walk. Leah, Seth, Embry, and Quil are at La Push tonight. So we won't have to worry about running into them." I loved his pack….But Leah didn't love me. "Sounds great."

After awhile I remembered my earlier worries. I turned to look at Jacob. "Jacob?" "Yeah?" "Will you…..age?" His eyebrows pulled over his eyes. "Well…." I froze. No. He can't. Jacob noticed my worried expression and smiled, "it's not like that, Nessie. I'll age when I stop phasing." I gasped. I pressed my palm to his cheek and furrowed my eyebrows. I pictured Nahuel, the only other half-vampire I had met, telling Aro that he stopped aging at maturity. Jacob sighed, "let me finish? IF I stopped phasing I would age. " He brushed his thumb against my lips. "But I won't." I looked at him, "what?" "I will never give up phasing is that means I can be with you forever. If you're not aging then neither am I." It took me a moment to process his words, then I leaned my head against his chest. I felt his arms tighten around me. I closed my eyes and smiled. "I love you." I murmured. Then I froze. I had never said that out loud before….It was almost like the fact that we loved each other was understood. I looked up to try and see his reaction. His eyes were soft. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I love you too, Nessie." I felt a strange kind of euphoria rip through me. I closed my eyes, relishing the moment. Jacob laughed, "come on, Nessie. We were going on a walk?" I opened my eyes and grinned at him. "Oh. Right, forgot."

I yawned and my eyelids drooped slightly. I leaned my head against Jacob's shoulder. I felt Jacob laugh. "Time for bed." He said jokingly. I thought of how far we had wondered into the wood and groaned. Even though I could run as fast as anyone in my family, I was way too tired. The human and the vampire halves of me warring with each other again. Jacob turned to me and grinned. "I'll carry you." I felt a rush of adrenaline. I put y hand to his cheek and pictured myself riding on the back of hi in his wolf form. He threw back his head and laughed. "Nessie, are you serious?" I nodded, "yes." He chuckled, "fine. I'll be right back." He darted into the trees. I sighed and waited. Soon I felt the change in the air, the almost electrical charge that coursed through the air around me. I heard the huge paws thud across the ground. The giant red-brown wolf loped from the shadows. He walked to me and rubbed his snout against my shoulder. I giggled as I ran my fingers though his hair. He lowered himself closer to the ground so that I could swing my leg over his back and wrap my arms around his neck. "Okay. I'm ready." I whispered into his over-sized ear. He bowed his head once, and then took off through the trees. Before long we were closing in on my small stone house. I slipped of Jacob's back and then kissed his nose. "See you in the morning." I whispered. He smiled wolf-ishly. I knew he would sleep close to the house. He always did. I turned slowly and started to breeze over the grass. I stopped at the threshold of my house and turned to look at Jacob one last time. He was sitting where I left him, watching me. I grinned at him and blew a kiss before stepping into my home.


	3. 2 Blurry

2. Blurry

"Good morning." I heard my mom whisper. I opened my eyes and saw her and my dad

smiling at me from the door. "Good morning, mom, dad." I greeted, my mom beamed at me, while my dad stared deep into my eyes. Crap. I started composing a song in my head. My dad grinned and then gestured at my newly renovated closet. "Why don't you get dressed so we can go?" I nodded and slipped out of my bed. Both my parents' eyes were black. They'd have to hunt soon. My throat burned slightly. Hm. Guess I would too. I opened my closet door and picked out a soft pink cashmere hoodie and a pair of jeans. My parents were already outside. "It smells like dog out here." I froze. They could smell Jacob's trail from last night, we always met far off in the woods to prevent this. I peeked through the window and saw the pale blur as my dad followed Jacob's scent into the woods. He came back a few seconds later. "It looks as if Jacob slept about thirty feet from the house." He looked angry. "He probably wants to keep an eye on Renesmee." My mom murmured, winding her arms around my dad's neck. "Yes, I suppose your right….I'm not happy about it though." He sighed before leaning down to kiss-ew! I whipped away from the window and started composing more piano music.

"Hey!" Alice ran up and hugged me, I hugged her back. "Hey, Alice." I said. She stepped back and cocked her head as she examined my outfit. Her face lit up in a smile, "nice! I approve." I longed to reach out and touch her cheek, to show her Jacob telling me he loved me. But I would have to wait until we were somewhere more private (the only reason I was able to think this was because my dad was focused on talking to my mom). "Morning, Ness." I smiled at Emmet while Rosalie hugged me. "Good morning, Em." I heard the door open again and I turned in anticipation; the woodsy smell already telling me who it was. Jacob smiled at me, I, composing music all the while, ran over and hugged him. "'Morning, Nessie." He whispered into my hair. I heard my dad clear his throat pointedly and I shot him a glare. I saw my work was already done; my mom had that spaced look that meant she had removed her "shield", and my dad looked sheepish, so I assumed mom was giving him grief in her head. I stepped away from Jacob and put my hand on his neck, I showed him my morning up until now. Jacob watched intently until he watched himself open the door in my mind. He grinned, "My morning wasn't fun 'till now." Aw.

Soon after the morning greetings were exchanged everyone drifted into their normal routine, Esme and Bella started talking about a trip to Denali, where we would visit Tanya's clan, Edward started to play the piano, Jasper, Emmet, and Jacob turned on a baseball game, Rosalie and Alice shuffled through a fashion magazine and picked out clothes they would buy soon, and Carlisle was at work. I walked over to Alice. "Hey, Alice." I put my hand on her neck and pictured the last time we had gone hunting together. Alice smiled at me, "sure!" Rosalie glared at us, "what?" She demanded. Alice turned to her, "Nessie wants to hunt together." I glanced at Rosalie's golden eyes, she wasn't thirsty. Rosalie nodded, bored again. "Oh, all right." My mom looked up, "you need to hunt, Renesmee?" I nodded. My mom smiled, "if you can wait I'll go with you once I finish up with Esme." Alice waved away her suggestion. "Nah, we'll go alone." My mom shrugged and turned back to Esme. My dad looked up from the piano. "Be safe, love." He said smiling. Jacob turned to me, he looked worried. I sighed, "I'll be back soon, Jacob." He smiled back, "come back soon, Nessie." I nodded and started for the door, Alice followed behind me.

"So what do you have to tell me?" Alice asked once we were out of earshot of the house. I furrowed my eyebrows, "how did you know?" A dumb question to ask my psychic aunt, but I was a blur in her visions. Alice rolled her eyes. "Well I've been having visions of a really blurry wedding. I think it's yours so this has to be something about Jacob." My breath caught. She could see a wedding? _My _wedding? "Are you serious?" I screeched. Alice sighed, "yes." "Do not think of this in front of my dad." Alice snorted, "obviously!" Wow. I scrambled to remember why I wanted to be alone with Alice. I put my hand out and placed it on Alice's cool neck. I re-played the exact moment when Jacob had told me he loved me. When it was over Alice smiled and nodded, "very sweet. Okay so I think the wedding will have a natural theme. ..Lots of flowers, even more then Bella's………Hmmm, I see." "What?" "The wedding will be next summer. So that means I have about a year to get everything done." My eyes bugged out. I was going to get married in a year?! "Are you serious?" I breathed. Alice smiled, "yep! I think I'll put you in you in a goddess style dress. High waist……Hmmm, no maybe a trim waist..Like your mom's but more modern…….long train for sure….Maybe a few diamonds shaped like flowers on the skirt…." I put my hand over her mouth, "Okay. Slower. So apparently I'm getting married next summer?" "Blurrily, yes." My heart started beating faster. I couldn't believe it. Alice smiled and patted my shoulder. "Please don't freak out like your mom did. I hoped that you had more sense than that." I sighed. "I don't care about the wedding plans! I'm freaking out because it looks like I'm getting married _in one year!!" _ Alice shrugged, "hey, it was either you or Jacob's decision that did this. I've had vague visions of some kind of future between you and wolf-boy. But now I can see so much more! Edward walking down the aisle, but I know that you're there too….And Bella's all blubbery, what a baby…….And there's all these flowers and candles ..Wow, I'm really going to outdo myself this time…Ugh, I wish I could see your dress! Oh well….I'm sure I'll make the decision sooner or later." I shhhhed her and put both my hand on her shoulders. "Okay, so we will not think about any of this, agreed?" "Duuuhhhh." I took a deep breath and pushed away all the uncertainty I was feeling. I loved Jacob. And apparently I was going to be ready to marry him in a year……Alice patted my cheek. "I'm so happy! A wedding! And my baby niece all grown up!" I blushed and leaned in to hug her. "Should I tell Jacob?" "That's your choice…Although I hope that he can control his thoughts." I smiled proudly. "We sneak out every night." Alice pulled back and looked at me, impressed. "Wow. Nice job, I'm proud of you." Suddenly she tensed and her lips pulled over her teeth. I froze too, listening. I heard the sound of elks. Gross. "Aw, isn't there something else?" Alice grinned, "not if we want to get home soon. And I have _allot _of wedding planning to do." I thought of seeing Jacob again. "Okay, fine."

Alice (her eyes now a golden amber) and I walked nonchalantly into the main house. No had really moved, my mom and Esme were now making lists of what we would need on our trip, Rosalie was making Emmet pick out clothes from the fashion magazines, Jasper was reading a book, dad was scribbling out a letter to Zafrina's clan, and Jacob was eating a hamburger in front of the TV, he got up when he heard us come in though. He walked over and took my hand. "Hey, Nessie." He said, grinning. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Hi, Jacob." My dad stood up and looked at my mom, "shall we go, love?" I cocked my head, "where are you guys going?" My mom smiled, "we're going hunting." Oh. Okay, have fun! My dad nodded, hearing my thoughts. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left. Jasper felt my mood change and raised an eyebrow. I blushed and turned away. I put my hand on Jacob's neck and pictured the elk Alice and I had killed. Jacob nodded, "nice catch!" I pulled my hand away; I couldn't tell him, not now…..not yet. It was just…weird...showing him our…wedding. I think a part of me also wanted him to realize he wanted to marry me on his own…not because he saw that he would eventually …I didn't want to be the one to plant the seed. After I kissed Jacob's cheek again I drifted over to the piano. My fingers started to dance across the keys, a melody forming out of thin air, I started singing under my breath,

_Sweet, sweet melody_

_You are the world to me_

_The air I breathe_

_The sun I see_

_The only thing that's there_

_My sweet melody_

_You are the world to me….._


	4. 3 Party

Party

I heard a loud knocking at the cottage door. I stood up and inhaled deeply…Jacob. I smiled and started to walk towards the door…It had been a few weeks since Alice had foreseen my wedding…..Nothing had changed, Alice and I had been very careful not to think about the vision, so my dad was in the dark. I opened the door and smiled at Jacob's towering figure. "Hey, Jacob." I said smiling, he grinned back. "Hey, Nessie….I just came to ask you something." I got a suddenly vivid mental picture of Jacob dropping down to one knee and asking me to marry him…..I pinched my leg (which wasn't painful at all) _stop thinking about that kind of stuff!_ I scolded myself before smiling at him, "what?" "Would you like to come to La Push tonight? My dad's having a huge bonfire tonight. My pack and Sam's pack will all be there, and so will Sue and Charlie." I clapped my hands one, "that sounds great!" I put my hand on his neck and pictured my mom and dad. Jacob shrugged, "I can ask them if you want." I laughed. "I can handle them…Thanks anyway." He leaned down and kissed me, "anything for you."

"Dad?" My dad looked up from the piano, "yes, love?" I smiled sweetly and batted my eyelashes…Time to turn on the charm. "Well…Tonight Jacob's going to this bonfire down at La Push…and both the packs will be there, along with Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Sue…aaaaand I was wondering if I could go too." My dad closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "So like your mother." He murmured and then laughed, "It sounds fine. Go ahead." I leaned down and hugged him, "thanks, dad!" "Just double check with your mom." Hm. Like _that _could deter me. "Okay."

I walked into Alice's room and giggled; Alice was giving my mom a makeover. "Okay, so you want to use this shade of eye shadow with this lipgloss, okay?" "Yeah. Sure." My mom grumbled while Alice's hands moved with lightening speed across my mom's face. Alice turned and her eyes went blank for a second….Then she scowled and turned back to Bella. "Blurry half-breeds..." She muttered. My mom swatted Alice's hands away and then smiled at me, "what's up, sweetheart?" I skipped over and put my hand on her neck. I pictured the whole conversation with Jacob and then my dad. My mom nodded, "sure. Tell Charlie I say hi, and that we're coming to visit soon." I grinned, "yay! Thanks mom!" Alice looked up, "what? You know I can't see anything about this!" I showed her the recap. She nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, so we're going kind of outdoorsy, right?" She tapped her chin, "let's go shopping! Sorry, Bella….The makeup will have to wait." My mom rolled her eyes, "oh no…I'm so upset." Alice wrinkled her nose, "at least your daughter has a fashion sense." I grinned at her. "Port Angeles?" Alice cocked her head, "hmmmmmmmmmmmm….I don't think so. I see myself trying on this totally hot sweater, and it looks like that cute little boutique in Seattle." I nodded, "okay, I'll go get my wallet." My mom sighed and shook her head. Alice stuck her tongue out at her and then walked over to her closet. "Okay, Nessie, meet you in my Porsche in..umm, half an hour, okay? I need to do my hair." My mom raised her eyebrows, "what? The Porsche? Isn't that a little conspicuous, Alice?" Alice groaned, "Live a little!" She snapped. I giggled as I left the room, my mom and her playfully arguing behind me. "See you later mom!" I called behind me, "love you!" She called back. "Love you too."

"You look great, Ness." Jacob said as he drove us down to La Push. I looked down at my dark blue jeans and angora copper colored fitted zip up sweat-shirt and grinned; Alice and I had done well. "Thanks….You look good too…." I giggled and Jacob snorted, he was only wearing sweats, as usual. After a few minutes he pulled up in front of Billy's house. The front door creaked open to reveal Billy in his chair smiling at us. "Hey, son. Hey, Nessie." Jacob grinned at his father, "hey, old man. How are ya?" Billy chuckled, "fit as a fiddle." Jacob got out and opened the door for me. I smiled and waved at Billy. "Hello, Billy!" I trilled. Billy smiled at me, "I'm glad you came tonight, Nessie. The bonfire's almost startin', we should be getting over to the cliff face." Jacob nodded and then took my hand, "let's go!"

"Yo, Nessie!" Seth clapped his hand on my back. I smacked him back, "hey, Seth!" Jacob's pack was already around the fire, Sam's trickling in….Seth, who I loved like a brother, Leah, who liked me….not at all, and Embry, who was almost like what Jacob had been to me before…And then Quil, my own personal teddy bear. Beside Quil was Claire, who had grown into a beautiful eight year old. "Hello, Jacob, Nessie." Sam walked up with Emily on his arm, her wedding ring glinting in the firelight. I waved, "hey, Sam. Hi, Emily." I watched as Sam's huge pack conformed around one side of the fire, Jacob's pack on the other. The tension between both packs was apparent, but everyone tried to get along. "So how's vamp land?" Paul asked Jacob through a mouthful of chips. Jacob growled at him. Paul rolled his eyes, "scaaarryyy!" He cried mockingly. Jacob's fist clenched, I put my hand on his arm, "it's okay." I murmured. I knew Jacob was always worried that his friends vampire teasing would insult me…I really didn't care much. "Rachel, tell that story about Jacob as a baby again….the one with the poison ivy!" Quil called. Rachel snickered and then nodded. "Ready, little brother? I want you to provide the shrieking sound-effects." Jacob scowled at them and crossed his arms, "screw you both." He sneered. I giggled and leaned my head against his shoulder. He relaxed slightly at my touch and then put his arm around me. "Okay. Let's hear it."

"Nessie, you want anything?" Paul called. Someone tossed a marshmallow into my lap. I felt my stomach turn. Ew, gross….It was white, and coarse…and squishy. Disgusting. I wrinkled my nose and flicked the thing of my lap, "no….Thanks, I'm fine." Paul sneered, "What, I thought you were half human. Can't you eat normal food." I felt Jacob stiffen beside me, "shut your hole, Paul." But it was too late. No daughter of Edward Cullen took crap from werewolves. I glared at Paul, "I can eat your gross food, Bring it on." Paul laughed, "excellent!" He threw something at me and I caught it automatically. It was a hot dog. I stared down at it in horror. Animal flesh? Why would anyone eat that gross, chewy stuff, when the blood was so close and so much better? "Ness, forget him. You don't have to eat it." Jacob whispered. I shook my head and slowly, oh so slowly, took a bite. I gagged slightly; even though it was cooked it tasted raw. It was grainy and stringy, and it tasted like…Totally horrible. I swallowed quickly and then tossed the whole thing over the edge of the cliff, waiting to hear the satisfying _plop _as it hit the water. The laughter had barely begun when we heard tire's pulling closer. I shot up. "It's Charlie!! No more vampire talk!!" Ever since I was fully able to grasp the whole if-you're-human-and-you –know-about vampires-you-have-to-die thing I was extra careful around my grandpa…The thought of Aro and Caius and Marcus looming over my grandfathers frail human body was terrifying…..But of course, once he married Sue, he was starting to get a general grasp…The word "vampire" was never used…But still, he wasn't an idiot. "Nessie!" I shook myself internally and smiled. "Grampa!" I cried and ran up to hug him. Sue drifted past us and then took a seat next to Seth. Grandpa looked me up and down and smiled…Although a tic at the corner of his mouth twitched; I hadn't changed a bit. I took his hand and lead him into the circle around the fire. Billy smiled at him, "hey, Charlie...Long time no see, how are you?" Charlie chuckled and sat next to Sue. "I'm doing great, Billy. You?" Billy shrugged, "nothing's new." I took my place back in the circle next to Jacob. He put his arm around me again and I curled into his side. The firelight made the eyes of the many spectators glitter….Suddenly...Everything seemed so fragile. My whole life, so careful and beautiful…Seemed suddenly like the brilliant coals at the bottom of the fire. Right now the coals were perfect…Glowing and gorgeous…But before long they would turn to ash and fly away, separated by the fickle winds of fate.

Was I just being morbid? I had almost lost everything once….Could it happen again?

Was this just some kind of late-night induced worry?

Or was my time really almost up?


	5. 4 Denali

4. Denali

"Okay, are we all ready?" Esme asked for the fourth time.

"Yes." We all groaned in response. Esme nodded and then picked up her own suitcase.

"All right. So let me see……Carlisle, and I will take the Mercedes. Emmet, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper will take the Jeep. Edward, Bell, Nessie, and Jacob will take the Volvo, alright?" Everyone but Alice responded with a "yes". Alice pursed her lips; she had wanted to take her Porsche. We all got into groups and then walked over to the garage.

"See you guys in Alaska!" I called before squeezing into the backseat of the Volvo with Jacob. My dad slid into the driver's seat and my mom sighed.

"Why can't we run there?" She asked, pouting. My dad grinned and shook his head exasperatedly.

"For one thing, we're leaving in broad daylight. If we don't want to alert everyone to the fact that coven of vampires is living here then we should probably drive. Second of all…well…" His voice trailed off but he shot a quick look at me. I crossed my arms and scowled out the window. I could run all the way to Alaska and be totally fine. I _was_ half vampire!! I wasn't all human. Ugh! My mom nodded in understanding. Jacob rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through my hair, my curls sprang back into place as soon as she straightened them out. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder…I was looking forward to seeing the Denali clean again, especially Carmen.

"Dad?"

"Yes, love?"

"When are we going to visit Zafrina again?" I asked. I loved Zafrina like an aunt…Or an older sister.

"I'm not sure….soon…" He replied. Was he hiding something? I sighed and closed my eyes. Jacob's breathing was getting deeper and I knew soon we would both be asleep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"They're asleep." I whispered. Edward nodded. I crossed my arms.

"Edward, is something wrong?" Edward sighed and turned to me, his golden eyes blazing. "Alice has seen some stirring in the Volturi's decisions….she can't pinpoint anything but……..She's seen Renesmee's face." He choked off. I knew by his expression that he wasn't telling me everything. 'Edward?" I put my hand on his cheek. He leaned into my palm and sighed.

"It…..was her…full grown face." I gasped and whipped my head around, half expecting to see Aro's milky eyes watching me from the forest whirring by.

"They….They've been watching." I managed to stutter out. Edward nodded stiffly, twining his fingers in mine.

"At any rate they've seen her now, at maturity." I felt the old know of dread in my stomach…..after so long of not having to worry….after so long of peaceful living….it couldn't end now. I turned around to see my beautiful daughter, her head nestled onto Jacob's shoulder…She was perfect.

Unique.

Beautiful.

Powerful.

Everything Aro wanted.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Nessie? We're here." I heard Jacob's husky voice drift through my thick dream fog. I blinked slowly and yawned and watched as the world came back into focus. I sprang up and then bolted out of the car into a thick snow drift. Oh ugh. I shook the snow out of my hair and scowled at Jacob's laughing face.

"Nessie! _Mi estimado! __Mi Hermosa!_" I heard Carmen trill. I ran into her arms. "Carmen!" I squealed into her golden brown hair. Carmen stepped back to look at me.

"_Isanto cielo! ____You look gorgeous, Nessie. You have not changed at all." I smiled at her._

_"__And I never will." We laughed together as the rest of the Denali clan exchanged greetings with my family. Kate, Garret, Tanya, and Eleazer hugged each of my family members (okay, not Jacob) and made remarks on how well we all looked. _

_"__Hey, Nessie!" Garret clapped me on my shoulder. "How you been?" He asked, his golden eyes glowing with his usual good humor. "I've been good. I'm frozen in time now." Garret grinned._

_"__Join the club!" He said laughing. Soon everyone went into the Denali's house. It was a normal kind of lodge style house, really warm and nice. My family were soon lounging around and laughing with the Denali's. I curled up next to Jacob on the couch in front of the fire. Jacob was stiff and he was almost scowling. I knew why, first he didn't like being around vampires that weren't my family, and second he hated not being able to hear how his pack was. He was to far way to hear their thoughts….but he couldn't be away from me for too long, and vice versa. Whenever I was away from Jacob everything seemed darker and it almost felt harder to breathe; because he was my breath. I looked around at everyone….I could still see the pain in Tanya and Kate's eyes….I had been there when Irina had been mercilessly pounced upon and burned. Tanya and Kate were still mourning…it was…different…loosing someone when you were immortal, as a human you knew that someday, somewhere, you would be reunited with your loved one in whatever awaited you in the next life. For vampires you would live forever with the loss. When you were a human you were only apart from the dead person for as long as you lived. You wouldn't have to suffer the loss forever. When you were a vampire, gone was gone. You would never be able to see the person lost again. Ever. Also, humans comforted themselves with the thought that whoever had passed was 'in a better place' vampires weren't sure what happened to our kind when he were burned. What happened when the living dead were killed? I looked at the bright faces of my family…..I didn't believe that they were 'living-dead' they were so full of life and love. The Volturi on the other hand….they might be classified as un-dead….they were monsters in every right. I laid my head on Jacob's shoulder and tried to block out the images of Aro watching me with his filmy, greedy eyes. I would live in the moment, right here, right now. _

_"__Anyone up for a hunting trip?" Garret asked, shaking me from my thoughts. Kate, Emmet, Alice, and Jasper raised their hands. I shrugged and raised mine too. I was with my family, I should be enjoying myself! But as he hunting part traipsed out the door I couldn't shake the image of The Volturi as they closed in on my family……_


	6. 5 Vampires vs Werewolves

1. Vampires vs Werewolves

"Come on! Please, Nessie!" Jacob pleaded. Alice narrowed her eyes.

"No way! Unless she explodes into a stinking dog she is not on Team Werewolf!" Alice snapped. I sighed, ever since the idea for Vampires vs Werewolves baseball game had come up Jacob had been begging for me to be on Team Werewolf.

"She has the same number of chromosomes as a werewolf." Jacob added. Alice snorted.

"She drinks blood, she's super fast, super strong, and she has impenetrable skin. She's on Team Vampire!!" I rolled my eyes. I had my suspicions that Alice and Jacob both had ulterior motives for wanting me on their team. Jacob wanted to make sure I was safe…like a ball couldn't hit me or something. And Alice wanted me because she knew Jacob wouldn't play as hard if that means I would lose. But I had already promised my mom I would play on Team vamp…..aaaand Emmet would kill me if I played for the other team.

"Sorry, Jacob, I promised my mom I would play on Team Vampire." Jacob sighed, but he smiled.

"Whatever makes you happy." He said. I grinned at him and wound my arms around his neck.

"You make me happy." I said. Alice snorted.

"Okay, we'll see you in the clearing tonight. It's going to be a huge storm!" She left grumbling to herself about how she might be able to see who won if it wasn't for the werewolves and me. Jacob kissed my forehead.

"So what do you want to do until it's time for me to whup your butt at baseball?" He asked. I flicked his nose.

"Please, you wish you could beat us."

"I don't have to wish; I know."

"So over confident," I smiled wickedly at him "that will be your demise!" Jacob rolled his eyes and tugged on one of my curls.

"I'm looking forward to seeing your face when you lose." I pulled my lips back over my teeth and growled in the back of my throat, glad that I had inherited this part of being a vampire.

"There, that's how it would look. Not that you'll ever see it!" Jacob rolled his eyes and kissed my cheek before taking a step back.

"Don't be a sore loser, Ness. Now I have to go and tell the pack that we're fighting you tonight too." I pouted and crossed my arms. "That's not fair, we were going to do something together." Jacob kissed the tip of my nose.

"Sorry, Ness, but I really do have to tell them….we're waaaay outnumbered and I need a plan." I sighed shrugged.

"Fine, I'll see you later?"

"Definitely."

After one last good-bye kiss we left for the woods. Now what was I going to do? I could go shopping with Alice…..or play the piano….

"Oh come on, little sister! I would owe you!" I heard Emmet pestering my mom about something.

"For the last time, Em, no!"

"I would go easy on him."

"No, no, no, no, no." I heard Emmet growl with frustration….what were they fighting about?

"He hasn't had a fair fight in his whole existence. He's had this coming for a long time now!" I tiptoed over to where the kitchen opened up into the living room. Emmet and my mom were facing each other, both of them glaring.

"No Emmet, and if you don't let up I'll fight you!" Emmet snarled quietly.

"Like that's a threat." I heard the front door open and I grinned when I saw my dad come in. He looked at Emmet for a few minutes and then chuckled, walking over to wrap his arm around my mom's waist.

"Really, Em, you know how stubborn she is." Emmet rolled his eyes before flopping back on the couch.

"Would you be up for it?" He asked. I suddenly realized what the fight was about; Emmet has been trying to make my mom use her shield on him while fought my dad so he's finally have the upper hand without my dad's mind reading. This fight had been ongoing for the last five years or so. I sighed and then went out the back door. What to do? While I was lost in thought my feet took me through the forest and then onto the familiar stone path of my house. I sighed and pushed open the door, gliding over to my room. I guess I'll read. When it doubt, read Shakespeare. I skimmed my bookshelf and furrowed my eyebrows…where was A Midsummer's Night Dream? My mom must have taken in. I walked into my parents' room and inhaled deeply. I could smell old book, under the bed. I crouched down and swept my hand under the bed, my searching fingers hit something hard and unfamiliar. I dragged it out and cocked my head; puzzled….it looked like a….photo album? I opened the first page and gaspef; it was my mom! And she was…a human. Her eyes brown, her skin pink, and her features a little less perfect. And there was my dad and mom…my dad looked….mean. And there he was in Grandpa's living room....I flipped the page, and I saw endless pages of me as a baby…then as a toddler….then as a kid…tween…teen…all in about six years time. I sighed and put the album back….I really did want to read Shakespeare.

The cold air whipped through my hair, blowing into my face. I knew I had to run away, but I couldn't see where I was going…what direction to run. "Renesmee." I heard a whispery voice call me. My heart stopped I ripped the hair from my eyes and gasped as I saw what awaited me. A line of black approached me, only Aro's hood was pulled back. He held out his hand. "Come now, dear one. Come join us." A wolfs howl cut through the dark field- for I could see now where I was; the baseball field- I looked around. Jacob? Was it him? Aro narrowed his eyes. "Can't you see, Renesmee. No one is coming for you. No one knows you're here. You're all alone."

You're all alone.

You're all alone. 

I awoke in a cold sweat. My head snapped up and I looked around…I was in my bedroom, on my bed, A Midsummer's Night Dream in my lap. I groaned and looked out the window. It was twilight, time for the game. I could already here the thunder. It was time for the game.

"Nessie? Where the hell you been?" Jacob asked as I walked over to where his car awaited me. I shrugged.

"I drifted off." I replied. I circled my arms around his neck. Jacob rolled his eyes and leaned until his lips brushed mine.

"Bored without me?" He asked, his lips against mine. I giggled.

"Yeah, a little." I tried to push the dream as far back into the deep crevices of my mind as I could. It was hard though….Aro's filmy eyes kept popping back up in my mind. I pulled away from Jacob and tapped his car.

"Don't we have a game to attend?" I asked. Jacob grinned and opened my door for me. I strapped in and Jacob started the car. I leaned my head against the seat and sighed as the trees started to whip past us.

As Jacob and I walked into the baseball field I got a chilling flashback to my dream. I shook my head and then surveyed my family. Mom, dad, Alice, and Jasper were huddled together talking strategy, Carlisle and Jasper were marking the bases, Emmet and Rosalie were passing a ball back and forth. I recognized Quil, Embry, Seth, Leah, Paul, and Sam watching Jacob's approach.

"Paul?" I growled. Jacob grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"He's got a mean pitch." He said. I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek.

"See you after I cream you, babe." I said. Jacob snorted and kissed my forehead.

"Keep dreaming." He called as we walked over to team werewolf. I shook my head affectionately and then skipped over my family.

"Hey!" I called. My mom smiled at me. "Hey, Nessie." She replied. I caught the ball Emmet tossed to me and grinned.

"Who's ready to kick the werewolf's butts?" I asked. Emmet punched the air with his fist.

"Yeah!" He called. Jasper smiled at the apposing team.

"Then let the game begin."

The game was going great. Team vampire was up by one points and team werewolf was putting up one hell of a fight. Jacob had even been able to make a home run off of Emmet (much to Em's chagrin). I was up to bat, and Sam was throwing. There was minutes left in the game.

"Hey, dog! How ya gonna feel losing to a bunch of vampires?!" Emmet called mockingly. I grinned, but kept my eyes focused on the ball in Sam's large hand. After another beat of silence Sam whipped the ball forward. I swung the bat around and hit the ball with a crack I started hurtling around the bases. Seconds before I reached third base I saw in horror something Emmet would never let me live down. Jacob, a huge grin on his face, was holding the white baseball in his russet hand. I skidded to a stop.

"Yuuuooorrrr out!" Yelled Quil. My mouth dropped open; I heard gasps coming from behind me, from my family.

"It's….it's a…….?" I stammered. Jacob grinned and nodded.

"It's a tie."

Of course.


	7. 6 Vision

6. Vision

IT WAS SNOWING.

I laid my head against the glass wall and watched as the flakes drifted peacefully down to the ground. Emmet, Jasper, my mom and dad, and Rosalie were having a snowball fight outside. I grinned as Emmet through a snowball with enough force to break humans' bones. That was probably the reason the werewolves didn't play. I closed my eyes and giggled as I heard them taunting each other outside.

"Really, Jaz, you can take down thousands of newborns and yet a snowball fight is too difficult?" Emmet called. Jasper picked up a hand of snow and whipped it so fast that it would have been a blur if not for my inherited vision.

"Hey, Nessie." I turned and saw Jacob walking over to me, snowflakes glistening in his hair. I reached over and brushed them out. He caught my hand and kissed it. I leaned into his chest and sighed contently.

"Why aren't you out in the snow, Nessie?" He asked as he rubbed his hands up and down my arms. I shrugged.

"I already was out this morning. Alice had fun stuffing snow down my coat." Jacob laughed and leaned down to kiss me. When he broke away I grabbed his hand and led him to the couch, I pushed him down and sat in his lap. He put one arm around me and used his other hand to mute the sitcom that was on.

"Is that hot chocolate stuff good?" I asked as one of the people on the show took a sip of a whip cream topped drink. Jacob shrugged.

"Nothing special. Why?"

"I was wondering if I would like it."

"Nessie, the only human thing you like is water." I giggled and closed my eyes, listening to the comforting sound of his heartbeat.

"I know."

We stayed like that for a long time. I would have been happy to stay there forever. But all too soon something shattered my happiness.

Alice had walked into the room and smiled at us.

"Aw, you two are cute." She said before starting re arrange the flower display. I sighed and laid my head against Jacob's chest.

"Why must you insist on interrupting my peace, Alice?" I asked. Jacob laughed but Alice scowled at us. My dad and mom walked through the back door, the snow clinging to their cold faces. Both of them looked at Jacob and I and then looked away quickly. Ugh.

"How was the snowball fight?" Alice asked. My mom grinned. "Excellent." My dad scowled at her.

"It was really un called for to give Rosalie your shield. I thought you were on my side." My mom kissed his cheek.

"Of course I'm on your side, sweetheart. But still, Rose needed help." It was all very normal. The gentle teasing, the relaxed atmosphere. That's probably why what happened next was all the more shocking. Alice gasped suddenly and fell to her knees, her hands clasped on either side of her face. My mom cried out and rushed to her side. Jasper was there in seconds, trying to pull Alice up to her feet. My dad just watched in horror as he read her thoughts.

"Alice? ALICE!" My mom yelled, shaking her shoulders. Alice moaned suddenly and shrank in on herself.

"It's to clear." She whispered. My mom furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Alice closed her eyes.

"I see……something in the night. But I can't see it too. I see the face of someone we don't know…but….I can't see what they're doing." She was rocking back and forth.

"Then everything gets so clear…." She whispered, agony twisting her voice.

"Alice, what? What does that mean?" My mom pleaded.

"It hasn't been so clear since….since…."

"Since Renesmee was born." My dad finished in cold, hard voice. I felt Jacob stiffen underneath me, and my breath left me in a gasp. The only reason the future would become so clear would be if I, and all the wolves, were gone. My mom had frozen, her teeth snapped together.

"The Volturi?" Jasper asked in a quiet voice. Alice shook her head.

"I don't know." She whispered, and then she looked at me, her eyes full of agony for a future that was suddenly less blurry.

"What can we do?" Jacob hissed. My dad closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together.

"I don't know. Alice's vision gave us no leads. No clues. We must watch out for the vision in the dark." He said through his teeth. I was still numb.

All my morbid thoughts had been true.

Time was almost up.

Fate was finishing what had been put off for so long now.

Even if my family wasn't sure about the Volturi, I was. Aro's face had filled my dreams for weeks now. And he always said the same thing.

"You're all alone."

I burrowed my face in Jacob's neck and tried to stay calm. I couldn't panic; my mom and dad were already at the seams. My mom had to go through this once; I could remember how her face had looked all those years ago.

"I won't let anyone hurt you." Jacob murmured into my hair. I could hear the promise ringing in every word, but it wasn't enough. If I didn't get hurt, he might. That was so much worse.

I heard footsteps as someone entered the room.

"What's going on?" I heard Carlisle's voice. I tried not to listen as my dad told him everything….but I couldn't block it out. Each word felt like a death sentence. Mine. The day became a blur after that, at one point I knew Jacob had lifted my gently from his lap so he could go tell his pack, then my mom had come to take his place, cradling me in her arms. I heard plans trying to be made. I heard Rosalie's long hiss as she heard the news, I felt her arms wrap around me and mom. I could feel as Emmet banged the wall with his fist. But it was all unimportant. I was trapped in my mind, which was now twisting and snarling over what I knew was going to happen. What I had always known. Only one thing could wake me from my stupor, and that was Jacob's voice as he bolted through the back door. I grew more anxious when I saw his face, it was twisted in agony. My dad cursed and started snarling at something I could not hear in Jacob's mind.

"What is it, Jake? What happened?" My mom asked in a panicked tone. Jacob shook his head slowly, pain twisting his voice when he spoke.

"Seth is gone. Someone got him."


	8. 7 Kidnapped

1. Kidnapped

THERE WAS A BEAT OF TOTAL SILENCE. THEN ALICE SPOKE "MY NIGHT VISION." SHE WHISPERED.

As soon as her words had been uttered everyone in the room was running sprang to my feet and stated running after my family. My heart was beating erratically in my chest and I couldn't hear anything but the blood pounding I my ears.

Seth was gone.

In a small part of my brain, the only part not totally filled with panic and grief, I realized this was my fault. It had to be. The freaky half-vampire child was never going to be left alone. The small part of my brain was once again churning with the sick thoughts that I tried to repress…..the fact that the halves of me were opposites in every way. The vampire half of me drank blood, and yet there was that same substance pulsing through my veins. I was super strong and fast yet I grow tired. What was I even? I grit my teeth and forced these thoughts out of my mind, how selfish of me to wallow in my own uncertainties while Seth was in trouble.

"This is where it happened." Jacob had slowed to a stop in a small clearing (for we were now in the woods) I looked around and gasped as I saw what must have taken place. There were giant wolf footprints circling the clearing, a smaller set of human footprints surrounded them as if whoever had left them was walking around Seth, leaving him no escape. Then, more horrific yet, there was the deep set trail that lead from the footsteps into the forest, it could only be caused by Seth being dragged away, nothing but a werewolf could leave such a huge mark.

My dad stepped closer to the tragic scene and inhaled deeply.

"I don't recognize the scent, though it was a vampire. What happened exactly, Jacob?" He asked his voice calm but his eyes were still on the edge of panic. I twisted my fingers through Jacob's and waited as he took a deep breath before beginning.

"I phased and ran out to tell Embry, Quil, and him what had happened, Leah's at La Push…" His voice quavered and I knew why; Leah was going to be beyond livid. I shuddered at the thought of her fury.

"Something was wrong though, Embry and Quil were both running over to this spot, their thoughts were really worried about something….then I realized the only thing I was getting from Seth was blackness. I followed Quil and then we all found….this." He gestured to the footprints.

"We smelled the blo-vampire's trail; it was fresh so I told Embry and Quil to follow it. They should be back soon." As if on cue I heard the pounding of enormous feet, they were close. As soon as Embry broke the trees I knew they had no luck; his eyes were somber. Jacob swore and tugged his hand from mine.

"I need to phase." He growled before sprinting into the woods. Seconds later the huge russet wolf bounded into the clearing, he stared at Embry and Quil, the silent communication was frustrating to everyone but my dad, who could hear everything like it was spoken aloud.

"What happened?" My mom finally snapped. My dad sighed and shook his head slowly.

"They…lost the trail. Whoever took Seth crossed a large lake and the scent died." Quil whined and nodded his head. My dad raised his eyebrows.

"But why?" He murmured. Embry's shoulders sagged and then shot back up in a shrug.

"What? What is it?" I asked. My dad turned to me.

"They think Seth has phased because they can't even see the blackness anymore, but only he could make the decision to phase, but why would he give up his wolf form? It's his greatest defense…." It seemed as if he was muttering to himself now. Suddenly all three wolves froze. Jacob snorted through his teeth, it sounded like a swear word.

"What is it?!" My mom cried. My dad shifted, it almost looked like he was going to crouch in front of my mom. Danger?

"Leah…is coming."

Yep. Danger.

Jacob whined….Leah must be reading his thoughts….seeing that her brother had been taken by a vampire. I heard the pounding of her feet as she shot towards our group. Jacob ran into the trees…a minute later he was back in his human form. He walked over and stood in front of me. I rolled my eyes, despite the fact that Leah was going to want to rip all our heads off, I was still safe.

I heard the ripping snarls before I saw Leah. She burst through the clearing, her lips pulled over her teeth, her eyes wild.

"Leah, please, calm down." Jacob said his voice low. A feral snarl ripped through Leah's teeth, apparently calming down was not an option. She stalked from the clearing, she was going to phase. When human Leah walked back into the clearing she looked even more livid the she did in wolf form.

"Leah…" Jacob said warningly. But that was not enough to stop her.

"You want me to be CALM?!" She spit, acid coloring her every word.

"Well-" Jacob began

"Calm?! After a bloodsucker TOOK MY BROTHER?!" She jabbed her finger at my family.

"This is ALL THEIR FAULT!" She shrieked. "I can't BELIEVE I EVER Protected them! They're all just a bunch of LEACHES!!!! If Seth wasn't protecting them he might STILL BE HERE!!!" Jacob glared at her.

"Stop it, Leah! It's not their fault, alright? We think it may have been the Volturi…." He stopped when Leah's gaze turned to me.

"So it's her fault then. I should have known!" Jacob's eyes flashed with fury.

"I said shut it, Leah!" He said, harsher this time. Leah laughed, almost hysterically. I could see tears glistening in her eyes…I realized now that anger was not the only thing she was feeling now...she was in pain.

"It's always the same for you Jacob! Always turning on the pack for a girl! First Bella and now her!" Here words froze, turned to molasses in my brain….dripping slowly through every crevice until al I could hear were her last words.

'First Bella and now her'

Bella? My….mom? What did…that mean? Jacob had frozen beside me.

"What….what does she mean?" I whispered. Leah's eyes widened.

"You never told her?! Hah! Figures!" She turned back to me, the pain and anger clear in her eyes. She was going to take out her revenge on the person she thought responsible. Me.

"I guess Jacob was keeping this a secret from you. You know before you were born? Well Jacob knew your mom." My mom had coiled into a spring next to me dad. A growl escaped her lips. She was in on this?

"Shut up Leah!!" Jacob shouted. But I took a step closer to the girl.

"When your dad left your mom, Jacob was there for her. And guess what? He fell in love with her. She was he thought about. Do you even know the reason he was here when you were born?" I shook my head. Jacob was snarling behind me, I ignored him.

"It was because he wanted to be with Bella before she DIED!! You were killing her and he hated you! Everyone hated you! And then you were born….and Jacob imprinted. Do you know what that means? It means he was forced to fall in love with you because of some werewolf thing!!" It was at that moment that Jacob sprang forward. He was glaring at Leah with a deep-set hatred. I felt the tears start to spill from my eyes. It was true….it had to be, Jacob and my mom were both snarling at Leah. I felt my breath gasp through my lips.

"Nessie, no, please…" Jacob had turned back to be when he heard my cry. I stepped backward. What was I to him? A replacement Bella because my mom loved my dad and not him? I felt more tears spill down my cheeks and I bit my lip to keep it from shaking.

"Get away from me!" I hissed before turning and running as fast as I could. My whole world had crumpled and shattered around me.

I was blinded by tears but I kept running.


	9. 8 Whole

1. Fight

I KNEW I WAS BEING SELFISH.

I mean, Seth was kidnapped, his life in danger, and yet here I was in my room, crying. But what else could I do? The love of my life….had loved my mother. I heard the frantic beating of Jacob's heart close to my window. He hadn't left yet. What did he want? Maybe losing two Bella's was too much for him, I mean, if he didn't have his replacement Bella what would he do?

The spiteful words sent ice down my spine. I knew the only reason I thought them with my bitter, cold mind. And that was because I loved him. The anger was the only way to mask the pain. I felt more tears spill down my cheeks and a sob escaped my lips. Outside I heard Jacob-wolf whimper. What did he care if I was in pain?

"Get out of the way, Psycho!" I heard his growl. Psycho? That was one of his his…er….endeamrents for Rose. I felt a smile flicker across my face, she was guarding the house. But the smile disappeared; he was human again.

"She doesn't want to see you, dog. And trust me I'd me happy to take you away from the house."

"Shut up, Blondie!" Jacob snarled. I hated the fact that his voice made my heart beat faster.

"Nessie, please, I know you can hear me. Please." I looked down at my hands, they were curled into fists.

"I said go, mutt!" Rosalie hissed.

"I'm not going anywhere until she answers me."

I sighed and flopped back on my bed, toning out their fighting. Memories swirled around in my head, as they had since I had locked myself in my room.

Jacob, pleading with my mom as she discovered what had happened….that he had…imprinted on me. I had no idea what it had meant, I was so young.

"You said we belonged in each other's lives, right?" He had been there before my birth.

And then…there was the stories I had been told. About how my mom and dad had met when she was still human….about what had happened leading up to me….and…the parts with Jacob were always…hurried over. I had just assumed he played a rather unimportant part in my parents love story. That he was just the best friend/werewolf. But what if….it was hurried over, glossed over, because that whole time he had loved my mom? The words shot nausea twisting through my stomach.

Loved my mom.

He had loved her right up to my birth. He was only there for my birth because he thought I would kill Bella. He wanted to get his last moments with her before she died.

What was worse was that I knew he loved me too. But not the right way, he had imprinted. Leah said….that meant he was forced to fall in love with me? Some kind of werewolf survival method was the reason he loved me. Not just me. He had fallen in love with my mom.

"Please, Jacob, she is very confused right now." My head snapped up, my dad was there now?

Go away! Make them all go away and then leave! I shouted in my mind.

"She wants us to leave." My dad murmured.

"I'll leave when this mutt stops trying to break the door open." I heard my dad sigh.

"Please, Jacob."

"I'm not leaving." Jacob growled. He was just making this harder. Why wouldn't he leave?

"Jacob, please, she wants us all to leave. We're making this worse."

Rose was helping.

"Oh, I believe she wants to thanks Rose." I heard Jacob growl and I could imagine Rosalie's face.

"What is she thinking about me?" Jacob asked, almost pleaded.

That he should get the hell away from me.

I tried to think that, and not that I was hurt beyond relief and that I still loved him.

"She is….confused, like I said. She doesn't really want me to talk about it, she's quiet sad though. We should respect her wishes"

Thanks, dad. I thought sarcastically.

I heard him grumble something under his breath. It sounded like "….not my problem..."

"Fine." I heard Jacob whisper, his voice broken. My heart throbbed as I heard the pain in his voice. I groaned as soon as I heard his heartbeat at Rose and my dad's breathing fade away, then I flopped back onto my bed and squeezed my eyes shut, praying for sleep.

Nothing.

I sighed and reached out my hand and felt along my bedside table until I found my MP3. I pulled it over and stuffed in the ear buds, turning it on and shuffling down to Claire de Lune. When the first soothing notes started to drift into my head I closed my eyes again. Soon the music helped lull me to sleep……

* * * *

"Nessie?" My eyes flew open when I heard someone call my name. I sat up and looked around wildly.

Jacob.

My heart started beating erratically while my teeth pulled over my lips. Jacob was standing at the foot of my bed, his eyes wide and his hands trembling slightly.

"Get out of here!" I hissed at him. A spasm of pain crossed his face for a second before he composed his features.

"No. I'm not leaving, Nessie. We need to talk."

"I don't need to do anything! Now go!" He held out his hands in a peaceful gesture. I had the urge to grab them and pull myself against his chest. Crap, crap, crap!

"Please, Nessie. I can't be away from you anymore; I can't stand you hating me." Hah. I wish I could hate him. I pulled my knees up to my chest and glared at him.

"Fine. Say what you have to say. Then leave." He nodded and then moved until he was sitting at the foot of my bed, he crossed his legs and tried to ignore the anger on my face.

"Listen, Nessie. You have it all wrong-"

"Oh, so you didn't love my mom?" I interrupted. Jacob looked into at me, his eyes fierce.

"I'm not saying that un-true, because it was true at one point. I'm so sorry I never told you, I shouldn't have kept this from you. You should have known the whole story so you couldn't over-react like this." I narrowed my eyes.

"Yeah, Jacob thanks. I'm feeling so much better now."

"Just listen. A long time ago, I did fall in love with your mom. But she loved your dad and it never worked out, we just kept hurting each other. I…..really did love Bella. I thought I'd never love anyone like I loved her…but then….I met you. I realized then that the way I felt about Bella wasn't even love compared to the way I felt about you." He reached out and put his hand on my cheek. I wanted to pull away but I couldn't, desperate to believe what he was telling me.

"I've been thinking about it, and I know why I couldn't leave Bella. Every time we said good-bye I kept coming back. And that was because of you. If I had left for good, if I really had never seen Bella again, I would have never seen you. When Bella was pregnant with you I couldn't leave her, because you were there. You have to believe me, Nessie. It's always been you. It will only be you. Forever." I looked into his deep black eyes, they were totally sincere. I didn't realize there was tears in my eyes until Jacob swiped them away with his thumb.

"But….but….Leah said…imprinting….you were forced to fall in love with me." Jacob's eyes had narrowed at the mention of Leah's name, but when I finished they softened.

"Leah was wrong about everything. Imprinting… it…well…it's hard to explain. But…and this is gonna sound real stupid….we were always destined to me together. Imprinting is the way werewolves find our mates…our…soul mates."

It was totally silent after he was done. Both of our hearts were beating faster. After a few seconds he grinned tentatively.

"So…..do you forgive me?"

I leaned in closer to his face and pressed my lips to his. I pulled away for one second and smiled.

"Barely."

Then I kissed him again.


	10. 9 Apology

1. Apology

I WATCHED AS JACOB WALKED INTO THE FOREST TO PHASE. HE WAS GOING TO TALK LEAH TODAY.

I hadn't wanted him to. But he said she was his "beta" and that this was the right thing. I didn't like it though, Leah was pretty much ready to kill. I turned back and faced the living room. My dad and mom were whispering to each other about Seth. It had been a few weeks since he had disappeared, and it was still worrying everyone. Well, not Rosalie, but she was never a fan of wolves. Also, it had been a few weeks since I had gotten over the whole Jacob loved my mom thing. My mom had told me the whole story….it made sense, I suppose. And now that aspect of my life was back to normal. But there was the constant black cloud of Seth's kidnapping. Who had done it? And why? We had run over idea and idea, ad yet nothing fit. My dad had thought that perhaps the Volturi were after guard dogs...but then why take just one? My head hurt from trying to think of reason and my heart hurt from knowing that innocent little Seth was out there someone with some form of sadistic vampires.

"Nessie, stop worrying. We will find him." My dad murmured suddenly. I nodded; of course he could hear my worries. My mom frowned and blurred over to hug me. I rested my head on her shoulder and sighed, the sick churning in my stomach had not ceased. And that was partly on the account that Alice had seen that I may not be in the picture very much longer. My dad's face got all pinched up when he heard that. It was almost like a taboo in our house now, something to painful to discuss openly. I lifted my head and turned towards the window again. When would Jacob be back?

"I cannot hear his thoughts, he must be a few miles out." My dad said soothingly. I sighed, now I had no way of knowing how he was.

"Leah may be mad but I don't think she'd harm him."

[i]Yeah right. [/i] I thought sarcastically. We all knew that Leah wasn't beyond violence. I broke away from my mom and darted over to the window. I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally I heard what I'd been waiting for; a heartbeat. I tensed when I heard a second one too. Leah was with him? Or…who?

"It's Leah." My dad replied to the thoughts in my head. I nodded and waited as first Jacob (in his human form) and then Leah (also in human form, surprisingly) walked from the trees. I darted out of the house and across the lawn, barreling into Jacob's arms. He trailed his hand through my hair, and as usual we both forgot everything around us. Including the angry werewolf behind us. I lifted my face to kiss him and he leaned down.

"Ahem." Leah said….well she pretty much snarled it. Jacob rolled his eyes but turned to face her.

"Leah." He said warningly. I placed my palm on his neck and showed him the time I had waited. What had happened while he was gone? Jacob stroked my cheek with his thumb.

"Hold on." He murmured. I frowned, patience was not easy right now.

"Er...Leah?" He asked. Leah crossed her arms and black fury crossed her face.

"I said no way in hell was I apologizing." She growled. Jacob sighed but shrugged.

"I'm going back to the house, have Embry tell you where we're running." He said. Leah rolled her eyes and then turned on her heel and stocked back into the woods. I pushed my hand back to Jacob's neck, harder this time. I showed him what I had before, this time with impatience. He grinned and tugged on my ponytail.

"Relax, Ness. Nothing happened really, we just talked, and I convinced her to come back to my pack." I glared at him.

"I wanted details." He sighed, I knew he would tell me eventually.

"Fine, I talked to her for a long time about how we're going to find her brother and hoqw it's not really the vampires fault…blah blah blah." I sighed and laid my head against his chest.

"You're a horrible story teller, you know that?" He chuckled and then took my hand.

"Come on; let's go back to the house so I can get some food." I pressed my hand against his cheek and showed him what we were doing before Leah "coughed". He grinned and then leaned down, his lips pressing against mine. I was lost in the sensation of his body pressed against mine, the way his lips felt. I broke off suddenly, Jacob looked at me, confused.

"My dad." I whispered. He rolled his eyes and kissed me again. When we broke apart for air he grinned at me.

"Edward's just gonna have to deal." He murmured, his lips against my cheek. I smiled and took his hand.

"Yeah, but he's not your dad. Come on, let's go feed you."

****

That night I was staring out the window, watching the stars start to come out above. Suddenly I heard a shift in the outside; I glared out at the forest, apprehension twisting through my stomach. Was it someone dangerous? The figure drew closer…I could now make out long dark hair, and a slim body with a tight fitting tank top and shorts…..Leah. I watched in shock as she got closer. Once we were about three feet apart she stopped.

"Hey bloodsucker…I want to talk to you." She said quietly. I nodded numbly and then darted through my house, hoping that this wasn't some kind of trick to get my killed. Once I was outside Leah started walking to the forest.

"Let's walk." She said. I followed her silently, waiting for her to talk. After five minutes she spoke.

"I'm…..sorry…about what I said. I was….angry." She muttered. My eyes widened in shock, and apology? From [i]Leah?[/i]

"Uh………..thank you. And I understand…..I miss Seth too, and you're his sister." I said. Leah nodded, her face sad.

"He's…one of the only things I have left. Once my dad died…..I mean….I try to take care of him. It's my goddamn job to make sure she's safe and…..I.....I failed! I let him get kidnapped, it's all my fault. If only I had been there, I could have protected him! And now….now….he's gone." Her words came out in a rush, switching between anger, sadness, and pain. I was pretty much in a coma by now. Leah was opening up to me? Where was the camera? I was silent for a second as I mulled this over then I turned to her and shook my head.

"It's not your fault, Leah. The person who took Seth could have killed you……Seth must have put up a great fight….he's a good fighter and I know that if there had been a chance of escape, he would have been able to take out the vampire. If you were there it wouldn't have made a difference. Yu do a great job protecting him. Don't let this ruin you." She was quite for a very long time. I was afraid I had really pissed her off, but then she spoke.

"Maybe you're right……. Either way though, I should have been there. Anything to help him." She said, the ending came out through her teeth. I shook my head.

"You shouldn't do that, living in the past…..saying "what if" "could have" "maybe" it's just going to keep hurting you. The only thing to do now is look the future and how you can change what happened." Leah looked over at me. She stopped walking and then stared at me for awhile.

"Your right. I'm not going to be able to help Seth if I keep moping. I need to do something, to try and help find him." I smiled at her, and after a second she smiled back.

"You know for an annoying bloodsucker, you've got some good advice." She said. I grinned at her. "Thanks…I guess." She looked out into the woods.

"I'm gonna go now….thank you…Renesmee." I nodded.

"Anytime. And don't worry, we'll find him." She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I hope so." Then she was gone.

I hoped so too.


	11. 10 Christmas

1. Christmas

IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE. THE ENTURE HOUSE SEEMES TO TWINKLE WITH LIGHTS, AND I WAS REMINDED

of being a kid again. I drifted over the enormous tree and inhaled its piney scent. I know Christmas seemed like a strange tradition for a house full of vampires, but we had sunk into it as more a celebration of family instead of anything religious. So every year Christmas came to the Cullen's, and not one holiday could escape Alice's notice. I giggled at the over-elaborate tree. I usually loved this holiday; spending cheesy-family time around the tree was something you really couldn't top. But this year….I don't know….I felt off. I suppose it was because Seth had been kidnapped and we had no leads. But…there was the other thing. The fact that this could very well be my last Christmas was hanging rather heavily on my shoulders. Also the fact that so many years ago…Christmas had been only a little while before the Volturi came. My locket was proof that my mom thought she were going to lose me forever. I sighed and sat down on the couch, watching as my pinched face was reflected in hundreds of bright baubles on the tree. It was in this huge reflective mirror that I saw Jacob walk in through the back door.

"What's wrong, Ness?" he asked, sitting down next to me and taking me in his arms. I snuggled my face into his chest and closed my eyes.

"I'm not sure." I said quietly. Jacob chuckled lightly and trailed his fingers through my hair.

"Well that makes it hard to cheer you up." He said. I looked up and saw that he was smiling, but his eyes were serious and his eyebrows were pulled into a worried line over them. I reached up and smoothed out his forehead.

"It's just…Well...I guess part of it is that Seth is gone. And…" I hesitated, looking down. Jacob took my chin and moved my face back to meet his eyes.

"And…?" He prompted. I bit my lip.

"And…I guess….well….I'm worried….about…well….Alice's vision." Jacob's arms tightened and he put his lips to my ear.

"No one will ever hurt you Nessie. Ever. I won't let anyone cause you pain ever again. I promise." He whispered fiercely. I closed my eyes.

"But….that….I'm not too afraid for myself...I mean of course I am but…I'm afraid for you to. It would hurt me more to lose you, or for you to get injured, then it would if someone burned me or anything like that." Jacob smiled and kissed me softly for a second.

"I'll be fine, Ness, don't be so worried all the time. If your mom could age she's be lined like crazy by now from all the worrying she does. It's downright scary."

"I HEARD THAT JACOB BLACK!" My mom shouted from upstairs. Jacob snickered and shifted me onto his lap.

"I'm serious though, Nessie , I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll make sure your safe." I smiled and closed my eyes, hoping that nothing could disturb me so I could listen to Jacob's beating heart forever.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen!" My head jerked up and I saw Alice's pixie face glaring at me.

"Jeez, what is it Mary Alice Cullen?" I snapped back. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Why do I not see a present for me under the tree from you?"

"'Cause you never see me?" I said half-heartedly. Dammit, busted.

"March, Missy." Alice said pointing in the direction on my house. I sighed, stood up and then leaned in to kiss Jacob intensely-I knew this would bug Alice- and braided my fingers in his hair. I heard Alice sigh behind me.

"Real mature, Nessie." She muttered. I pulled away from Jacob and grinned at his dazed expression before brushing some of his hair away from his face.

"Looks like I have some present wrapping to do. See you later." I started for the back door and I heard Jacob mutter "should make her leave more often" to Alice. I rolled my eyes and hen skipped through the back door.

[i]I felt Jacob's lips run down my neck. I turned to kiss him and found he was gone. I shifted myself so that I was sitting up. I was in a cold, dark place. I stood up shakily and felt a crushing emptiness settle over me. I stumbled forward and tried to claw on to something.

"Renesmee." Someone breathed, I whipped around and saw Aro standing behind me, I gasped and leaped back, only to ram into something hard. My scream was choked off as Felix curled his arms around me and placed his hand over my mouth.

Dear one, you must be so tired. You had such a long journey." Aro whispered, he stepped forward and grabbed my locket. I tried to pull away but he held fast. In one smooth motion he tugged the locket from my neck. I tried to cry out but I couldn't speak; Felix still crushed me to his chest. Aro laughed softy as the locket popped open, showing my mom and dad and me.

"Such foolishness, Renesmee. We are your family now." He clenched his hand and my locket turned into dusk. No! I cried in my head. Aro took another step forward and then placed his hand on my cheek.

"Welcome home, dear one." I heard a wolf howl and shock pierced through me. I craned my neck to see where it as coming from. Suddenly Aro and Felix disappeared; I was staring at a crumpled form on a dark, stone floor. The person looked up at me and I saw bruises and blood dripping from the mouth. A scream ripped from my lips.

It was Seth.[/i]

I awoke with a gasp and sat up. I was in my room. My heart hammered out a chaotic rhythm against my ribs and I realized tears were dripping down my numb face. I reached a shaky had to my beck and found my locket where it should me. I took a steadying breath and then sank back into my bed. What a nightmare. Seth's face, tortured and hopeless, swum into view and I cringed. I realized that it was dawn. Christmas morning. I flipped off the blankets and made my way to my closet. I pulled on clothes without seeing them and then sank to my knees. Aro's face terrified me. But not as much as his words.

[i]We are your family now [/i]

I shook my head and put my face in my hands. I needed to act normal for my family. For my Jacob. I stood and then sat on my bed with my eyes closed. Waiting……waiting……suddenly my door was pushed open. I screamed again. It was Aro. He smiled at me and then stepped closer. I shrank away from his horrible eyes and started shaking.

"No…please…please….please." I whimpered. I never got to see Jacob again. He reached out on of his hands and clamped it onto my shoulder. I screamed and screamed.

"Nessie wake up!" Were the words he spoke. He sounded like…like...like my dad? My eyes flew open and I saw my dad's golden eyes boring into mine. It was a dream. I had fallen back asleep…it was a dream. I sighed in relief and put my arms around my dad.

"Nessie, what was it? You were screaming….what were you dreaming of, love?" My dad asked as he pulled into a sitting position… I felt my mom's hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles over and over again.

"It was….nothing……Seth. I dreamed of him. I'm sorry I was screaming." I had to lie. They must now know how much I feared Aro. My dad sighed and kissed my forehead.

"Sweetheart, don't be sorry. I'm sure you're very upset about losing Seth. We all are….maybe you should rest for awhile…..?" I shook my head and pushed their hands away, standing up.

"No. Let's go. Come on, it's Christmas!" I said, faking enthusiasm. My dad smiled weakly.

"Yes…merry Christmas."

When we entered the main house cries of joy welcomed us. Alice pulled us over to the big tree where we were hugged my everyone.

"Come on!!! Present time!!!" Alice squealed. My mom rolled her eyes but passed Alice the one from her. Soon we were all exchanging gifts.

"Aw, I love them, Nessie!" Alice crooned, holding up the silver go-go boots I had gotten her. I giggled.

"I knew you would." I replied. I passed Rosalie the wrapped red silk cocktail dress Ihad gotten her. My dad passed we a small package.

"From your mother and me." He said simply. I opened it curiously and then let out a cry of elation.

"CAR KEYS!" I yelled. My dad gestured at the garage.

"Shall we?" He asked. I was about to take a step forward when something crossed my mind.

"Where's Jacob?" I asked, realizing in the blur of presents I hadn't noticed his absence.

"Right here, Ness." I whipped around and saw Jacob stepping through the back door. I gasped in surprise before rushing over to hug him.

"Merry Christmas, Jacob!" I said. He chuckled. 'Merry Christmas, hon." I looked up to his face and saw he was looking over my shoulder. I turned and my eyes followed where his were fixed. My dad started back at him and then he nodded. Jacob slipped his hand into mine

"I want to give you my holiday present, Nessie." He murmured. I nodded, expecting him to hand me a package. Instead he took a step to the door.

"Er..Jacob?" I asked. He grinned and tugged gently on my arm.

"Its outside. Come on." I followed him, in a daze now. Where was he taking me? We walked deep into the woods, following some unseen path Jacob was taking. Finally, when we cleared the trees and ended up in a snow covered meadow, he stopped. He turned to me and took my hands in one of his, with his other one he reached up and curved his palm to fit the side of my face.

"Do you remember this place?" He asked. I thought for a second before it came to me.

"Oh! This is where we told each other we loved one another for the first time!" I said. Jacob smiled and nodded before closing his eyes slowly. When he opened them again they were smoldering.

"Nessie I have something to ask you." My breath stopped. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Now this is gonna get real corny, alright? So bear with." He took another shaky breath and then stooped down on one knee.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

He looked up at me and smiled softly.

"Renesmee…..I love you more than I've ever loved anything else on this Earth. I didn't know this feeling was possible until I met you. I can't imagine my life- or this world without you. Please say that you'll spend the rest of our lives, the rest of forever, right next to me, because I don't belong anywhere but next to you. Nessie….will you marry me?" He reached into his pocket and then took out a small box. He opened it and I saw ring nestle among the silk. It was white gold with a square ruby set in the middle and two smaller square diamonds on either side of the glistening red stone. The world had slipped away; the only thing left was Jacob's sincere, beautiful face. I felt silent tears slip down my face and I knew a smile was stretching across my face. Finally I found my voice.

"Y…yes. Of course I'll marry you, Jacob. I love you." A smile broke across his face and I thought I saw some sparkling tears in his eyes too. He slipped the ring-my ring- on my finger before standing up and taking my face in his hands.

"I love you too, Nessie." Then he leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was long and sweet and I lost myself completely. I was so happy, every vain, every cell in my body was singing with joy. When we finally broke apart we simply stared into each other's eyes for a very, very long time. And I never wanted to look away.


	12. 11 Mystery

1. Mystery

"White? Pale pink? Gold? Copper? Light blue? Come on work with me!" Alice was shoving different

swatches of color in my face. I tapped my chin.

"Well if it's just Rosalie and you then I'd have to say pale pink. I think it would look best on both of you." Alice nodded and then started sketching out a dress with lightening speed.

"Okay…so I'm thinking earth tones for the theme. Bella had a really white wedding, but I mean come on she was marrying a vampire so we're obviously more elegant…but Jacob is a werewolf so I'd think we could go on a different route with this, a little more…..natural, right?" After growling at her I grabbed a pad.

"I was thinking a pale fern green and then a tan mixed in with a kind of a silvery white. Make the flowers green and white, etc. etc." I said, pointing to different points on my drawing. Alice nodded and made a few adjustments here and there. As Alice started drawing out my wedding dress I let myself sink into my memories of when I had first walked in the door with my ring….

I took a deep breath and squeezed Jacob's hand.

"Don't be nervous, Ness. I mean Edward already knows."

"What a comfort." I whispered dryly as we neared the door. Jacob kissed my cheek before sliding it open and indicating that I should go first. I smiled, hissing "har har" through my teeth before turning to face my family. Their expressions varied from surprise, suspicion, excitement, and pure calculating joy (that was Alice. Apparently my blurry wedding just got a hell of allot blurrier.) I took a step closer and then held out my shaking left hand. Eight pairs of eyes trained instantly on my ring. Gasps echoed through the room and then I was suddenly being hugged…or crushed may have been a better word.

"Nessie! Oh honey I'm so happy!" Mom.

"Congratulations, love." Dad.

"How wonderful!" Esme

"I'm so happy, Renesmee!" Carlisle.

"Didn't I tell you? I told you. Oh I have so much work to do…." Alice.

"Er…I'm happy for you….both." Jasper.

"Hah! In-laws with a mutt!!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Emmet.

"Oh Nessie, a wedding! Why must it be with that stinking animal?" Rosalie.

Their words of congratulations swum around my head but I could onl really focus on Jacob's face. A wedding. MY wedding. I couldn't believe it…..

"Nessie? Nessie? Snap out of it! This is not time to daydream!" Alice's voice broke me from my reminiscence. I blinked and then looked down at the pad of paper she was tapping on my left leg. I was frozen momentarily when I saw what was drawn onto the ivory paper. It was a wedding dress. My wedding dress. The most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It had a tight bodice that hugged the drawing-me's torso until it reached her-my-waist. There it flared out into a wide silk skirt, seed pearls sewn together to look like flowers crisscrossed the skirt. A silk cord looped from the bodice and then around my neck, making a beautiful necklace shape. I traced my hand over it and then looked up at Alice.

"It's so beautiful." I whispered. She smiled at me. "I know."

A little while later I was sitting on one of the stairs and fiddling around on a laptop, looking at flower arrangements. I clicked on a site that looked pretty crappy and filled with popup accidently. I was just about to go back to the search page when an ad on the side of the website caught my eye.

Unexpectedly pregnant? Call the toll free number below to find help!

I stared at the ad for a long time. Finally the sound my computer made whenever a pesky popup ad tried to infiltrate my zoning helped shake me from my reverie. I snapped the laptop closed and then drummed my fingers along the smooth grey outside. I hadn't thought about this before. But now things started to come back to me. The fact that my mom was sure she couldn't have a baby with my dad. The fact that here I was, the genetic offspring of them. The fact that I wasn't entirely human yet not entirely vampire either. The fact that I had a period one day every month. The fact that I was about to get married.

Oh, my god.

I jumped to my feet and darted p the stairs and into Carlisle's office. There he was, sitting at his desk and writing in a notebook. He looked up when I entered the room and smiled at me.

"Why hello, Nessie. Its good to see you." I smiled back but my stomach was still twisted. Carlisle seemed to be able to read my facial expression and his eyebrows pulled down.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. I exhaled a long gust of air and then sat down in the plush char that circled the desk.

"Well….I've been thinking….could I….er…..um…get…..pregnant?" I stuttered out, blood flushing to my face and coloring my cheeks a neon red. Carlisle smiled softly and nodded, his face thoughtful.

"I've been thinking about that myself and….well I'm really not sure. My opinions change from day to day and I'm still undecided. The facts could favor each answer and so I really have nothing concrete." I could tell this annoyed him allot.

"Well what are some of the facts in favor of yes?" I asked.

"Well, you have a varied form of a Menstrual Cycle…and also, even though you are now frozen in time, your heart continues to beat. So if that organ continues to function then why can't the others? Also I'm sure that you and Jacob are very compatible genetically, because of your chromosome count." He shrugged. "But it seems like all these answers could have negatives." My throat is very, very dry by now so I try to choke down some spit before answering.

"What are the…negatives?" I finally manage. He stares out the window, obviously calculating something before answering me.

"Well…I don't know if the fact that you have some form of a Menstrual Cycle is enough to predicts that you could become pregnant…also, even if all your organs function normally then will your body still be able to change to accommodate a child? I'm just not sure…" He sighed regretfully and then looked up at me.

"I am sorry, Nessie, I wish I had any kind of answer for you." I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Don't worry about it, Carlisle. Thank you for giving me the answers you have." He nodded. "Of course, my dear." We talked for a little longer, but soon it was time for me to meet Rosalie, Alice, and my mom for a wedding planning session. Already the boys of the house were out hunting to save themselves from the frilly talk of our meeting.

"Hello?" I called when I got into the dining room. No one answered. All our plans, sketches, and catalogs that we had accumulated were spread across the table but none of my family sat at the chairs. I followed my mom's scent out of the kitchen, into the living room, and out into the back yard. It was there I saw them. Alice was telling Emmet, Jasper, Jacob, and my dad something, her eyes wide and hallowed with fear while my mom's head whipped back and forth, her expression pained , and Rosalie was crouched low as if expecting an attack.. I ran up them and they all froze when they saw me. My mom wrapped her arms around me and I could feel her shaking.

"What is it? What's going on?!" I asked, panicked. I felt Jacob wrap his arms around me from behind and I turned to look up at him, his face worried, scrunched up and wild. Alice turned to me and her chin trembled, when she spoke her voice was a whisper.

"I can't see anything. It's all blurry…..but I can hear you. You're screaming…..all I can hear…just one scream…and then everything silent. Then everything's clear….."

Everything's clear.

And that means I'm gone.


	13. 12 Terror

12. Terror

I LOOKED OUT ACROSS THE WOODS AS THE SUN SET, DYING THE ENTIRE FOREST IN DEEP HUES OF RED

and orange. The rest of the sky was starting to become a soft purple-blue. I sighed and grit my teeth together. I was frightened all the time now. I was paranoid. Every shadow looked like a Volturi guard, and every whisper of the wind sounded like Aro's voice.

"Damn." I hissed under my breath. This was no way to live. I closed my window and then walked into my darkening room. My parents were at the main house and I knew that Jacob was prowling around the forest, making sure there were no gaps for anyone to get in. I wished he was in here with me though. Wished I could wrap my arms around his neck and listen to the reassuring sound of his steady heartbeat. I switched on my light and took a book out of my shelf. I barely glanced at the cover before cracking it open and starting to read. It turned out to be The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. The light slowly dwindled outside but I didn't look up from my book. I felt much safer in the book world then I did in mine. My parents still hadn't come back from the house, and I'm sure they were discussing Alice's vision. It had pretty much been the main topic of the house (whenever they thought I wasn't in earshot, when I often was) my wedding was still important, but it was almost halfhearted now. Everyone was on edge, Jacob's pack included. My mom and dad were always shooting each other worried looks and often my dad would snap at someone for having a particularly gloomy thought about the future. I was quieter than usual, staying even closer to Jacob then usual and I often jumped whenever an unexpected noise caught me off guard. Jacob never let his pack off patrol around my house. However despite all of this, I still didn't feel safe.

Alice took the brunt of this new paranoia even worse. She was always huddled somewhere with her hands pressed to her temples muttering about how everything was blurry. Nothing was concrete and yet she could sense that something was going to happen.

"Why can't I see them?!" She finally cried one day. My mom's eyebrows knitted together.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"This shouldn't be like this!!! I should be able to see whoever or whatever threatens Nessie, just not her. But I can't see any of them!" Her breath was labored as the end, her anger directed inwardly as well. That set my mom and my entire family to thought. And me as well…why couldn't they see whoever was trying to hurt me? I had no ideas.

****

An hour or so later I was yawning and ready for bed. I slipped on my tank top and boxers and flipped back my blanket. It was then that I heard the rustling noise. Ice shot down my spine and my stomach flipped over. I tried to reassure myself that it was nothing. Just the wind. Maybe a squirrel. No vampire could make that noise.

But then it happened again.

It sounded like something was being dragged.

My heart started pounding. What if this was a repeat of Seth? What if it was Jacob this time?

"NO!" I whispered fiercely. I dated out of my room and tried to ignore the way the room swum around me. I dashed out of the front door and followed the dragging sound until I was deep enough in the forest to slow down. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I could smell wolf….but also a new smell. It was sweet alluring…a kind of floral smell with hints of cinnamon…and when this scent hit my nose my throat scorched; human blood. The blood pounding in my ears marked the time. It was a slow dragging minute before the pale figure emerged from the shadows. It was a woman in about her twenties. Her skin was as pale as any vampire's but it had an olive tint to it. Her eyes were large and a deep red, she had shoulder length black hair and she was smiling at me like a hunter would smile before shooting his prey.

The smile sent daggers of fear into my heart.

"Jacob." I whispered. The vampire gestured behind her.

"He had to take a nap. The rest of his pack decided to sleep too." Her voice was high and melodious. When she finished talking she laughed, a peal of a bell.

"Who are you?" I whispered. The woman took a step towards me and my breath caught tin my throat. If I ran she would catch me. But what if I shouted for help? My mouth opened but just as I was about to scream I felt a cold hand slip over my mouth. I shouted and tried to twist away, but someone held me from behind. I twisted around and saw the leering face of one of my nightmares.

Felix.

I froze and went limp in his death grasp. The woman darted over to us and laid her hand lovingly on Felix's arm.

"Well sweetheart, my names Gianna. And I came here to run a little errand for my master. You see, he wants to meet you so very much, and since you never came to visit we decided to come and get you." The blackness of night crushed down on me. I could barely focus on the face of the cruel vampire in front of me.

Aro.

Aro was her master.

Aro had sent for me.

I was going to die.

"We should get going before your pesky family hears us, right dear? Let's go Felix." Something was wrapped around my eyes, eclipsing everything. It smelled like stones. I felt myself being bound my chains, very strong chains that coupled with Felix's strength was able to hold be, gagged and then slung over Felix's shoulder. He started running. I don't know how far we traveled before I was finally able to get the gag far enough out of my mouth to make any noise. I knew this was a wasted attempt because already it was too late. Alice's vision had come true. Only one last thing to make it complete.

I screamed.


	14. 13 Nightmare

13. Nightmare

MY MIND WAS NUMB WITH FEAR AND SADNESS. I COULDN'T THINK, COULDN'T FEEL. ALL I DID WAS LIST-

en to the footsteps of my captors as they traveled through the wilderness to what I was sure would be an airport.

"I wish we could drive." Felix grumbled at one point in our journey.

"We're switching to a car soon, we just want to give them enough of a trail to keep them busy for awhile."

"But we already went through that lake, we won't be able to catch a real trail after that." Felix muttered.

"Very true, sweetheart, but Aro said we run for as long as we can. We don't want any of them to catch on before we get to the airport." Them. My family. My family would try to find me and they wouldn't be able to.

Jacob…..

Pain shot through my chest and I winced. Felix didn't respond in any way. The most I was able to think through my grief was this; the next time he let me go I would fight. I'd rather die trying then become Aro's pet…or die far away from home.

At least my parents would find my body.

****

I heard the sounds of cars now. We traveled for a little while before Felix stopped and set me on my feet, still holding me.

"Let's get in the car. I'm sure their close on our trail now." Felix said. Gianna nodded and turned to brush aside a few branches that camouflaged a sleek black Porsche. Felix dragged me to the door. I tried to kick, squirm, or anything to free me. His grasp stayed like steel against my hands.

It was hopeless.

****

I was in the back seat of the car. My hands and feet were still bound, and my mouth was still gagged. I might have been able to escape if Felix hadn't strapped me in and wound one of the steal chains that circled my hand around the bottom of his chair. The windows were dark. No one could see me. We traveled for a long while, the highway whipped past us, the trees turning into a blurry line. Felix and Gianna were talking quietly in the front.

"…we're very lucky this worked. Aro certainly planned this well." Gianna was saying to Felix.

"Yes….blinding Alice Cullen like that…." My head snapped up from where it had lolled against my shoulder. What did they mean?

"Hmph, yes you're right. A shame we weren't able to see Edward and Belle though, I know that Bella thought I'd never last this long!" Felix chuckled.

"You're lucky Aro wanted to try it out, otherwise we may have never discovered your little talent." Gianna giggled and then they started talking about flight plans. My head fell back on my shoulder and I felt tears start to seep out of my eyes.

Jacob I love you so much. I'll always love you and I know you can't hear me right now but it doesn't matter. No matter what happens to me I'll always consider myself your wife. Please don't try to come to Italy. I don't want you to get hurt.

I kept reciting "I love you" over and over in my head. I didn't want to think about anything, to imagine my fate. If I just could keep thinking about Jacob I could stay strong. Strong enough to face whatever awaited me with my head held high.

I don't how long it was until we reached signs of Seattle. Ah. So this is where they were taking me. Gianna turned in her seat and smiled at me. I hated her.

"Dear, when we go to the airport, you are going to pretend to be our daughter. Do not try to escape. Do not call attention to yourself in anyway. Do you understand?" She reached out and snatched the gag from my mouth. I rolled my mouth around, trying to get rid of the numbing sensation left behind from the gag. When I was sure I could answer I took a deep breath.

"I understand you two are kidnappers with no personality and who's only purpose in life is to lick Aro's shoes." Gianna's face contorted into a scowl, and a hiss escaped her lips.

"Then I hope you understand the fact that if you don't do what we ask then your beloved family will pay the price." She snarled. Felix chuckled. Pain twisted through my stomach. So this was how it was going to be. I comply or they die. My lips pulled pack over my teeth and a vicious growl ripped up from my throat. Gianna smiled.

"So I take it we have a deal." I called her a bad name but I nodded. I wasn't going to do anything that might endanger my family. It was the only thing I could do now.

When we got into the airport parking lot Felix parked the car and then un bound my hands and feet.

"Gianna, she's going to need some kind of clothes. She's in a nightgown." He seemed to find this funny. I found the image of his head on the ground also funny. Gianna tapped her chin and sighed.

"I'll be right back." She disappeared. A minute later she returned, but this time she had a pair of jeans and a zip up sweatshirt slung over her arm. Felix raised his eyebrows.

"I stole them from someone's luggage." Felix laughed and then leaned down to kiss her. I made a gagging noise and then snatched the frumpy cut outfit from Gianna.

"Next time you steal and outfit at least try to have a fashion sense." I snapped at her. I went back into the car to slip on the jeans and sweatshirt that was too long and had skull and crossbones on the front. The jeans, on closer inspection, were much to baggy and had a patch on them that read "death metal" a smile flickered across my lips as I thought about what Alice would say if she saw these. The smile turned into a grimace though. I would probably never see Alice again. When I got back outside Felix handed me something. A passport. I peered down at it. It had my picture (how the hell did they get that?!) And all my proper information. Something struck me though…..my middle name. Annalisa. A fierce sense of hope surged through my veins and closed my throat. I remember so long ago going through the small backpack that my mother had packed for Jacob and me that we could flee after the Volturi slaughtered the Cullen's. The middle name on my passport. Vanessa Annalisa Wolfe. I remembered how I giggled at the strange middle name, and how my mom said she had told "J" to put something generic in. J Jenks. Jason Jenks. Jason Scott. The man who supplied our family with fake ID's and passports.

Could it be?

"Wow, this is a good one. Where did you get it?"

"Some Jenks guy…" Felix shrugged and Gianna shot him a glare. Apparently she realized that my mom and J were on speaking terms. A smile crossed my lips and this one stayed. Gianna glared at me as if to say "don't get any ideas". I looked up at the cloudy sky and felt a raindrop hit my cheek. I now had hope that perhaps, the trail wasn't as dead as Gianna and Felix thought.

Felix, Gianna, and I walked through the crowded airport. I kept my head down, my bronze curls shadow my face. Even if people saw my face it wouldn't matter…it wasn't like my parents would be able to put up an Amber Alert or anything. The news wasn't going to put out an issue for my return…..The Forks police wouldn't be looking for me. Mom wouldn't tell Charlie. It's not like they could actually tell them what happened.

"Oh she was kidnapped by a sadistic coven of vampires who live in Italy." Yeah right. Besides, any human who came to look for me would be killed, and then probably become Gianna and Felix's snack. I shuddered and sat down next to Gianna as we waited to board our plane. I would have to face this alone. If I got hurt I would have to suffer through it and fight the best I could. But there was no way in hell that I was going to let my family risk their lives for me.

****

I lost track of how many times we transferred planed. I was numb again, just following Felix and Gianna and staring down at my feet (Gianna had stolen me a pair of black high-tops. Spiteful little…) and ignoring the world around me. On the plane itself I just looked out the window and tried to ignore the dull ache that hammered through be with each heart beat. Every beat meant that I was farther from home. Each second signified more space put between me and Jacob.

Once, while we were on our third or second plane (we were getting uncomfortably close to Italy now) Gianna had leaned over to me and hissed "try not to look so forlorn. I said not to draw attention to yourself!" I then had leaned over and told her to go jump in a fire pit, and then I pointed out that, due to my clothes, I looked like the kind of girl who would be forlorn. She seethed after that, but sense I made sense she didn't bring up the topic again.

****

"Benvenuto in Italia! Grazie per l'aria Italia di volo e prego goda il vostro soggiorno!!" My stomach heaved and suddenly my surroundings swum around. I felt Gianna's eyes on me and I tried to breathe. I had to stay strong. For my family. For me. For Jacob. When the plane landed and the passengers started filing out Gianna grabbed our small luggage (they had stowed some carryon in the car) and waited for to stand. I did so woodenly and then started walking down the aisle. My mind was reeling and butterflies fluttered around in my stomach as it twisted into uncomfortable patterns. I barely took in our surrounds, barely noticed as Felix drove around a rented car. Didn't feel as I was herded into the car. When we started driving though I couldn't help it; the tears overflowed from my eyes and sobs started to hiccup through my lips. Gianna sighed and patted my hand absentmindedly, I jerked it away and cowered in my corner of the car, tears still sliding down my cheeks.

"Oh good Lord, girl! Aro doesn't want to kill you, not yet at least. So stop crying and try to be presentable….mmm, maybe we should pick you up something a little fancier. What do you think Felix?" He grunted. Gianna sighed "men" and then turned to look out the window again.

"Just act natural, alright? The Masters won't kill you if you do what they ask."

"Well whatever happens I am to become a puppet with no free will, who feeds on humans and will never see my family again. I suppose 'love' isn't necessary a term in your viper pit, but trust me, I will not let go of my family without a fight." Gianna's face flashed with fury, but then she smoothed her features and sighed.

"I'd be careful what you say, girl. Aro may not take too kindly to insults. And even if he's not quick to harm you, there are others he is not so careful with." I slumped in my chair. She meant my family. I knew they could protect themselves…but still…I wasn't going to take any chances. If anyone could threaten my family, it was the Volturi.

****

Dread seared through me when I saw the sandy colored walls of Volterra come into view. I could feel Gianna's eyes on me, testing my reaction, so I kept my held up high and tried not to scream.

"Oh, I was wondering, do you glitter in the sunlight?" Gianna asked. My hand lifted from the seat and I was about to show her a picture of me in the sun when I suddenly realized what I was doing. I snatched my hand back and turned to the window.

"No." I said bluntly. I could tell Gianna was amused and a little curious about my hand thing…it was an automatic reflex. But I couldn't-wouldn't- show anyone my talent. Of course I had already used it with Aro…showing him the faces I loved….but I wouldn't anymore. I know it wouldn't make much a difference, but any power I held over them was a good thing.

****

We neared the gates and I started to panic. In mere minutes I would be in the heart of Volterra. I was going to die, be tortured, or be forced to become one of them.

And I didn't think I was going to have a choice.

Felix pulled the car into the gates and talked with the guard briefly. I couldn't focus on what they said. We pulled slowly into the city, every inch twisting my heart into knots. Finally we were there. Volterra. I looked down at my hands, which were clasped in my lap, trying to steady my breathing. It was enough that both of my kidnappers could hear my heart thumping out erratic patterns. Felix was inching down the cobblestone streets as we twisted our way through the bustling city. Soon we came upon a darkned alley.

"Alright. Now, do we have to tie you up again, girl, or will you come quietly?" I weighed my options, I wouldn't be able to run…but at least I could walk into Aro's lair with some kind of dignity.

"I'll come." Quietly was not a promise. Felix picked up on this but said nothing, he pulled the car deeper into the alleyway and then stopped the car. Gianna was the first to throw open her door and jump out.

"Ahhhh, it's so good to be home!" She trilled, stretching. Felix opened his door and then went around the car to open mine; he thrust his hands in and grabbed me. He pulled me out next to him and then circled his arm in an unbreakable grasp around the top of my arm. I stared down at the sand colored ground and tried to calm myself. It didn't work though. Jacob I'm so sorry. I love you. I'll love you forever. Mom I love you so much and I always have. You're the greatest mom anyone could ever ask for and I'll miss you so much. I love you so much, Dad, and I'm so sorry I couldn't have been stronger. Alice…. I said my silent goodbyes as Felix (dragging me) and Gianna walked down to the end of the alleyway. They stopped suddenly and Felix laid his hand on the brick wall. I could see now an outline of a door. Felix trailed his hand down the stone and stopped at a brick that stuck out farther than the most. He pulled on it, and with a groan the door swung open to reveal a long black tunnel. I suppose no human would have the strength to open that door. We walked down the long black corridor and I couldn't help a whimper escape my lips. This was it. The Volturi had me. I knew this was going to happen. This was my fate from the beginning. How stupid to think I could avoid it.

After the long hall we reached a narrow winding stair case. Felix shoved me onto the first step.

"You first." He said gruffly. I started walking. The staircase seemed to go on forever. I wished it would. I wished that I was all human so I could throw myself down the stairs and die before I could reach the top of the stairs and open the door into my own personal hell. My wishes were not to be granted though, for after about twenty-five minutes we had reached the top. A regular looking wooden door awaited me.

"Open it." Felix said behind me, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. I took a deep breath and reached out my hand. I brushed it against the cold silver knob and then twisted my fingers around it. I heard Felix snicker behind me and I gritted my teeth and twisted.

The door swung open easily and I felt a rush of relief when I saw the room. It was normal….kinda like a waiting room. Blandly decorated with prints of the Italian countryside on the walls.

"Oooh, scary, right?" Felix mocked as he grabbed hold my arm again.

"Not as scary as your ugly face." I muttered. His grip tightened and I squirmed uncomfortably. Wewalked up to a desk with a woman behind it. I was astonished to smell the fact that she was human. She looked up at me and her brow crinkled. She was Asian and she had milky skin and celery green eyes. Her hair was black and it waved to the middle of her back.

"Hello, Kokoro." Gianna said pleasantly as she breezed past the desk and through the door near it. Felix dragged me after but I kept my eyes fixed on the woman. I could see pity on her eyes. It was probably because I looked partly human…..but why did she care? She was in the lair of vampires. But judging by the way she bit her lip stared back at me with such sorrow, maybe she wasn't entirely happy here. I kept her gaze until Felix shoved me through the door and into a intricately gilded hallway. Then I turned my head around and gasped, fear shocking its way through me.

Jane.

She smiled an angelic smile at my obvious terror.

"Good job, Felix, you got the freak." I snarled at her. She raised one of her eyebrows. "Hm…I've been so looking forward to this revenge." She purred.

Then I was on fire.

I scream ripped through my lips ad fell to the ground, writhing. So this was what Jane's gift felt like. I had been told of its strength, but I never imagined this. Fire licked my every vein, I was screaming for mercy, but none came. I had told myself I could be strong, but I didn't know what to expect. Finally the pain vanished. I lay on the ground panting.

"Hah, your father didn't scream at all. I suppose you're not as strong as him." Guilt and anger washed through me as Felix tugged me back up, a smirk on his face. Suddenly a door disguised as a wall opened up next to us. I whipped around and saw a tall blond vampire looking down at me.

"I can't believe it. It worked! Excellent job, Felix, I thought for sure the Cullen's would kill you." Felix chuckled.

"No, we didn't even see them. Now, excuse me." Demetri (for I now I had placed him) stepped aside and let Felix drag me into a small stone chamber. Another door opened and we walked into a wide stone tower.

My breath caught in my throat.

They were there.

Aro. Caius. Marcus. All sitting in large wooden thrones. I took it their expressions one by one. Caius looked like Gianna had; like a hunter who caught their prey. Marcus looked bored. My eyes inched over to my worst nightmare. Aro. His eyes wild with triumph and greed. My muscles locked and I felt like I was spinning down a tunnel of despair.

It was over.

Aro stood from his chair, his mile wide and menacing.

"Renesmee! Oh, how happy I am to see you!" I couldn't speak. He took a few steps forward and held out his hands , palms up.

"You look beautiful, dear one! Oh how long as it been since we have met?" Still I couldn't talk. Aro frowned at me, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Come now, Renesmee, I wish you no harm. I'm sorry about the unsavory way we had to bring you here. But I have wanted to meet you again so….and your family is really so hypersensitive. And…" He took a step closer "I've been so hoping that perhaps you could be persuaded to join our little family here." Finally I found my voice.

"I don't think get a choice." I breathed. Aro chuckled.

"Oh, don't be silly. Of course you have a choice….although sadly; I don't think you'll be able to return to your family. For you see we could still use your many talents….and I really believe you will want to join." He looked at someone behind me.

"Bring him in." I was frozen. Who? Who did they have? I heard footsteps and I terribly familiar smell hit me. I gasped and whirled around. Shock hit me like a train and I felt my knees wobble as if I was about to collapse. The reddish brown skin….the messy black hair…the warm black eyes….so familiar.

"Seth." I whispered, my voice cracking. The whole room disappeared and then I was running, I heard some protests, silenced by Aro but I didn't care. Seth. Seth was here. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started sobbing. His arms wrapped around me and I sobbed even harder. I couldn't believe it….why? Why had they taken him? Was it bait? Or……

"And even if he's not quick to harm you, there are others he is not so careful with."

Or blackmail.

I took a step back and looked at Seth. For the first time I really focused on his face, and what I saw made bile rise in my throat.

They had hurt him.

His face was covered in bruises and thin gashes, some of them healed and scarred over, others, like the one by his eye, were still oozing blood. His bottom lip was puffy and cracked. I looked down at his bare chest and saw that it too was gashed and bruised. All my sadness was suddenly consumed by the rage that exploded within me. I whipped around and glared at Aro, anger making my breath shallow and labored. He seemed amused.

"You sick bastards!" I snarled, my voice ringing through the cavern. I stepped out from Seth's embrace, but he grabbed my hands and pulled me back. I didn't care though. I wanted to kill all of them! Aro raised his eyebrows and then chuckled.

"Oh what a fiery spirit you have. Please don't think less of us, dear Renesmee…young Seth merely had to be….put in his place at times." I lunged forward again but Seth yanked me back sharply. I took five deep breaths and then my shoulders slumped.

"Why? Why did you take him?" I whispered.

"I was getting to that, my dear. You see…..I have had this plan for awhile, but I knew I couldn't really develop it with Alice-" his voice turned into a caress around her name "with Alice always being able to see what I was doing. But of course I know the holes in her vision…so I sent out a few of my coven to go and spy on your family, without making any contact. Alice did not see and I was able to gather valuable information.

"Some of the most helpful information was the fact that she cannot see these shape shifters. This gave me the idea that eventually formed into this plan."

"You kidnapped Seth so that your actions would be invisible to Alice." I whispered. Everything fit. Everything made sense now. My mouth went dry and I looked up into Aro's eyes. The full depth of what he was capable of sunk in slowly. I took a deep breath and then sank in closer to Seth.

"You are a very good player, Aro. It seems as if this was barely a challenge for you. I have one question though." Aro, who had smiled and my compliment cocked his head good-naturedly.

"Yes, dear one, and what might that be?"

"When Gianna and Felix…came for me, my father should have heard their thoughts. We weren't in hearing range of the house, but my father would be able to hear what we were all thinking. And if he could have my family would have been there in seconds." Aro smiled and then took Gianna's (who had come to stand closer to him) hand.

"Ah, well that is all thanks to this wonderful woman. You see she was one of the humans we kept here, one who wished to become a vampire. I wasn't sure of her ability but I decided to take a chance and change her. As it turns out she has a rather unique talent that was latent as a human. She can, in so many words, make the voices that your father and I hear mute. She can numb out our thoughts so that they can't be heard. It's a rather mutated form of the shield your mother has. It has proved quite useful." He leaned in and kissed Gianna's cheek. I took all of this in. My shoulders slumped and Aro sighed.

"Oh please, dear Renesmee, I know you will like it here." He stepped forward and held out his hand to me. Again I sensed that I had no option but to take it. I filled my head with as much white noise as possible and then took his hand. He bowed his head as all my thoughts rushed into his head. Seconds passed, then minutes. I could hear Seth's heartbeat pound behind me and I focused on that. When Aro finally let go of my hand his eyes zeroed in on my ring. No I breathed in my head. He lifted my hand and smiled.

"Engaged to the wolf that was beside you on that day we met. Jacob was it? Oh how wonderful! What joy, dear Renesmee!" I didn't say anything and Aro fingered my ring. "You know, it's a shame that we had to separate you from Jacob…perhaps we should bring him here?"

"NO!!!" My shout was followed by stunned silence and then Aro smiled sadly.

"Well I suppose then there's really no use for this, is there?" In one deft movement he slid my ring from my finger and then dropped it into a pocket that lay in the folds of his cloak. His eyes calculated my expression, which I tried to keep calm. Dozens of emotions flickered inside of me, and I was unable to pinpoint one. Finally I settled on locking my gaze with Aro's, trying to keep my face dead.

"What do you plan to do with me?" I asked without inflection. Aro smiled warmly at me, but before he was able to answer Caius spoke for the first time.

"If you do not join us today, then you will be kept with your mongrel friend here in some of our less pleasant conditions." He leered. Aro clicked his tongue.

"Really, Caius, there is no need to be so brash. But I am sorry to say he is telling the truth, my dear Renesmee. You will be staying with young Seth just until we can be sure no one is coming after you, then you will be free to roam this wonderful city as you please, for I can see that you are no bound by the sun as were are." He laughed. Marcus lifted his head suddenly.

"Aro, they are coming." He said simply. Aro nodded and then took my hand again. "My dear, I know that your family has set you on the way of abstinence, and as you know we live quite a different life here. So if you do not wish to watch us feed, then I suggest you accompany Demetri and Seth." I nodded vigorously, knowing that whatever horrors awaited me I could not witness the death of humans. I felt a hand on my arm, once again pulling me out of the room of death. Aro smiled sadly at me.

"Don't worry, dear one, soon you will be part of the family." Part….part…part of the family. The room swum in front of my eyes and I felt my knees give way. The last thing I knew before the blackness overcame me was Marcus's eyes locked on my face.

Then everything went away…….

When I awoke I was in tight, dark cell.

"Nessie?" I heard a familiar voice whisper.

"Seth!" I cried, I could see his outline now in the corner of the cell. I crawled over to where he was and threw my arms around his neck, I started crying again.

"Oh, Seth! Oh, I'm so s-s-sorry! This is all my fault that you're here and you're hurt and I'm so sorry!" I wailed. Seth started rubbing my back.

"Shhhh. Shhhhh, Nessie. It's all right. It's not your fault. You didn't ask these wack jobs to kidnap you or me. Please don't be upset….it's okay." I kept sobbing wordlessly, for how long I wasn't sure. All my pent up emotion, all the pain and anger, grief and confusion bubbled to the surface and I couldn't do anything but cry. Seth sat with me, rocking me gently, and even though I was sickened by the fact that he was here too, I was glad for the company of my brother. After a long, long time I finally quieted down. Seth and I stayed silent for awhile before my cracked and dry voice broke the gloom of the chamber.

"What happened that night, Seth?" He sighed and shook his head slowly.

"It was so fast…one minute I was running patrol, looking forward to the change in shifts so I could sleep, and the next minute I'm attacked by that big vampire they call Felix before I even had time to smell him.

"It wasn't a close fight, not at all. Felix and that Demetri had me out cold in under a minute. When I woke up next they were dragging me across the forest. As soon as they realized I was awake they made me phase back so I wouldn't be able to talk to the pack."

"How did they make you phase?" I whispered.

He was silent for a moment before "they said if I didn't that they'd…that they'd kill Leah." His voice broke on the last two words. Anger rolled through me again.

"I had to choice then but to phase…and then we traveled…here." I could tell by the reluctance in his voice that he didn't want to re-live his trip to Italy. I stroked his battered cheek with my thumb and sighed.

"I'm sorry you were dragged into this, Seth. So sorry."

"Don't worry, Nessie, this isn't your fault….." he trailed off. "Do you think that maybe…..they'll try to come for us?" I knew he meant our family. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure….they probably expect that it's the Volturi…but they know that if they tried to attack them here, here in their home, that they'd get massacred. So I don't know…." I sighed. Seth sighed too.

"I hope they don't. I don't want them to die."

"I know, Seth. Me too." He slumped down the wall slightly and I repositioned myself so that his head rested in my lap.

"I didn't want them to find you, Ness…..I really wished that they wouldn't. When Felix and that which girl went out to find you I went crazy…man this sucks." I placed my hand on his neck and closed my eyes; slowly I started to show him everything that had happened after he was kidnapped. He laughed and parts of it, sighed at others. When I got to my wedding he shook his head.

"You guys were gonna get married without me? Thanks allot!" I laughed.

"We were planning to find you, Seth." He shrugged and I continued with my story. When it was done with were both silent, relishing in the last memories of our family. A family we may never see again. I put my hand on his neck started to show pictures of any happy things I could think of…like a slide show….over and over again…until we both slowly drifted off to sleep.


	15. 14 Numb

14. Numb  
TIME SEEMED TO BLEND TOGETHER HERE. THERE WASN'T ANY SECOND I WASN'T IN PAIN. BUT THERE WAS NO  
way to tell one second from the next. Seth told me that they fed him scraps occasionally.  
"I wouldn't be much use if I was dead, you know?" He had said cheerfully. I stared out across the muted blew light of the dungeon and swallowed, the burn searing my throat. Seth noticed my grimace and sighed.  
"You're thirsty, huh Ness?" He asked. I nodded morosely.  
"I'm sorry…..I don't know where you'd find any animal. 'Cept the rats in here but I know you wouldn't want that." I opened my mouth but then shut it quickly. I was about to say that I'd just have to eat human food, but how could I do that to him? I wouldn't starve, but he would.  
"Don't worry, I'll be totally fine." I changed the subject.  
"So……what happens here? What do you do all day?" Seth snorted.  
"Absolutely nothing. I'm in here all day unless…..never mind." I narrowed my eyes.  
"What?"  
"Nothing, nothing." I crossed my arms at scowled at him.  
"Seth, I have nothing to do all day but interrogate you until you spill. So we can do this the easy way or the painful way. What's it gonna be?" Seth sighed and then shrugged in defeat.  
"Well….I tried to make a break for it…twice. Those vamps are fast though, and they cheat. The first time I….was given a…warning. The second time….well the second time made the first punishment look real fun." I felt sick again and I put my hand on Seth's cheek, showing him all the injuries I had cataloged when I first saw him.  
"Yeah, that's what happened. I'm lucky though because they had to hold back to keep me alive, one punch could have probably shattered most of the bones in my body, but since Aro needs me alive The Hulk had to go easy on me." Rage twisted through me and I snatched back my hand before images of me ripping Felix into a million pieces entered Seth's mind…not that he would care.  
"They broke some bones though, didn't they?" They couldn't have held back too much if even with Seth's super healing scars still remained. The ones that had been bleeding yesterday were gone now, but that made me realize just how fresh they were.  
"A few…I healed up fast though…you remember when Bella broke my collarbone, it healed in about two hours. I slept 'em off." I swore several times and then turned to face the door again.  
"They'll come for me. I know they will. I think Aro wants me to become a part of the lifestyle. He won't leave me here to rot for long. But of those monsters think that'll I do anything they want then they're stupider then they look." Seth chuckled and squeezed my hand.  
"I think you inherited your mom's stubbornness." I sighed. Mom. What was she doing right now? What was my family doing? They must be so worried…  
My morbid thoughts were interrupted by a grating sound, suddenly light flooded into the room and Seth shrank back into cell's corner automatically. I saw Alec approach us. I stiffened. He could make people blind. I had only experimented that once when Zafrina had been testing my mom. It was a horrible sensation.  
"What do you want?" I asked coldly. Alec smiled and I winced, ready for the blankness. Nothing happened.  
"Aro would like to see you in the throne room."  
"Well you tell Aro that he can shove his invitation where the sun doesn't shine." Woah. Leah must be rubbing off on me. Seth snickered behind me and I could tell he had made the same connection. Alec raised one of his thin golden eyebrows and then smiled slightly.  
"I would suggest you take Aro's invitation. If you do not, maybe he will start to think that this mutt is holding you against your will….and then he'd have to punish him wouldn't he?" His voice became velvet soft at the end. Fear shot through me and I felt myself standing up.  
"Fine. Let's go." I said stiffly. Alec smiled and then opened the cage door with an old fashioned skeleton key.  
"Have you tried breaking out yet?" He asked conversationally as we walked through the twisted insides of this monstrous castle-like that housed the Volturi.  
"The bars are made out of steel. I cannot break them and neither can Seth. Besides, I wouldn't try to break out. I won't do anything to endanger my family, you pig." Alec chuckled and shook his head.  
"Aro was right; you are entertaining." I clenched my fists and looked down at the ground. God how I would love to rip his head off.

"Renesmee! What a pleasure to see you again, dear one!" Aro sang when I stepped into a gilded and lusciously decorated throne room. Again Marcus was looking bored, the throne that should have been occupied by a wife was empty. For some reason that empty chair filled me with a crushing sadness. Probably because, except for Seth, my life too was empty now.  
"And how was your night in the cell, girl?" Caius asked with a sick smile. I smiled back pleasantly.  
"As long as I didn't have to look at your face I was quite content." Caius's face twisted in anger, as did his wife's. Aro on the other hand chuckled and I could swear I saw some kind of emotion flash through Marcus's cold, dead crimson eyes. Aro slid off of his throne and then walked over to me and took my hand. His eyes flickered with all the new information from my mind. Aro's eyes got that greedy hunger that had haunted me for so long. He was obviously watching my memories of showing Seth our family. Damn, damn, damn, damn! He looked up at me and a different smile carved across his powdery skin.  
"You really must show your little gift to the rest of us, since only I have been able to see just how wonderful it is." I shook my head and took a step back. No way. Never. Aro sighed and shook his head, but he didn't press the point. Instead he drifted back to his throne.  
"Demitiri, would you be a dear and fetch Kokoro for us. She can show Renesmee around our home today." My spine stiffened. I didn't hear Demtiri leave but a breath of cool wind blew into the stale room so I knew he must have opened to door. I looked at the ground, at my feet encased in the gross hightops. If I closed my eyes they would go away. But I couldn't make everything else go away by closing my eyes. Tears battled against my will and I tried to swallow my sadness. I had to stay strong.  
"I hope that you will be able to join us soon, dear Renesmee. It saddens me to think of you in that pitiful dungeon."  
"Sure, sure." I replied offhandedly. Jacob's laugh resounded in my head; I clung to it until it faded into the recesses of my memory. I also knew that from my memory Aro would recognize the exact tone of that phrase. Good. His eyebrows did raise a little, but I suspected that was from amusement. A flurry behind me caused my head to turn. I saw Demtiri standing with a cowering Kokoro by his side. Two things hit me simultaneously. One, Kokoro looked about nineteen, so young. Two, Demtiri stood slightly in front of her, as if he was protecting her, and when she glanced at him a new light filled her panicked eyes. Oh, how sad. She was in love with him. And it looked like, judging on the nervous, jumpy look in Demitri's eyes, coupled with his protective stance, that he cared for her too. Despite his better judgment. Oh Aro would never allow this….  
"Kokoro, would you mind showing Renesmee around our home? Give her the grand tour!" Aro exclaimed happily. Kokoro nodded and then gave a swift bow, her black hair eclipsing her pale frightened face. Aro smiled and clapped.  
"Delightful! Go on, dear Renesmee, have fun my dear!" He trilled. Kokoro gestured for me to follow her as she turned from the room. I did so, watching as Demtiri followed her receding back with sad eyes. I followed the woman down the hall and watched as she watched only her feet. Saying nothing.

The silence continued as we walked slowly through the caverns of the 'house'. I suppose it was beautiful but I didn't see any of the statues, rich tapestries depicting mythical creatures and gorgeous scenery. Didn't see the immaculate halls and rooms. All I could see was the black hair of my guide. I didn't want to see the rooms of the people who had captured me. It was all a prison.  
Finally we reached a very low floor where I was sure no one could hear us.  
"Why are you doing this?" I asked in a flat voice. Kokoro stiffened at my question and then her shoulders slumped.  
"It was an accident." She whispered. "I stumbled upon what they were when I was visiting here on vacation….they were going to kill me but I begged them to spare my life. Aro decided that I could become their new secretary…..so I lived." She breathed quietly. I knew it….she did resent this life.  
"They're going to kill you anyway, though." I said bluntly. She shuddered and then put her ace in her hands, so when she spoke her reply was muffled.  
"I know. Of course, I know now what I did not know then. Every day I curse myself for being such a coward that day and not excepting death. Now I have to watch as my fellow humans are paraded down that hall into that room to be slaughtered." She shivered again. I felt pity for her roll through me. She must be in a living hell everyday….except….  
"What about Demitri?" I asked coolly. Her head snapped up and I saw fear in her eyes. I held out my hand in a peaceful gesture.  
"I'm not on their side. Think of what they did to me. I just want to know." I said softly. Kokro sighed and nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears.  
"So you noticed…yes, I was scared to find myself falling in love with him. Terrified. But it happened…and now I will love him forever, I know. There is no way to reverse the way I feel. I cannot explain it even to myself." She sighed.  
"You know he loves you too, right?" I whispered.  
"If I allowed myself to believe that then I wouldn't be able to handle my fate. I ignore it. Pretend I'm what I should be to him; dinner." I could see now exactly now how her life lay. She loved a vampire, and the vampire loved her. But she is destined to become little more than Aro's meal, so she didn't allow herself to think that he loved her back.  
"That's horrible." I breathed. She nodded but said nothing. I pointed to myself.  
"Do you know what I am?" I asked.  
"Yes. I overheard Aro talking about it. Half a vampire, and half human. I didn't believe it until I saw you…the beauty of a vampire…and yet the eyes of a human." She smiled weakly. "You should have had a great life, Renesmee. I'm sorry that this is also your fate." I nodded, then a thought struck me and I clapped myself on my forehead.  
"Damn! Aro's going to see al of this!" Kokoro laughed bitterly.  
"Aro will pay attention to me only when his teeth are in my neck. And as for your mind-"another bark of laughter, "do I really look like someone who wouldn't wish for death?"

That night, as I try to fall asleep curled next to Seth in our small cramped cell, Kokoro's tortured face comes once again into my mind. I feel so sorry for her. I want to help her. I want her and Demitiri to be able to be in love. I sighed and rolled over, I guess, what I really wanted, for me and the people I care about, is a happy ending.  
Although right now that seemed impossible.


	16. 15 Marcus

15. Marcus

I WAS PRETTY SURE I WAS DREAMING.

How else could I explain the fact that I was sitting in the throne next to Marcus? The one that was always empty. I stared out at the gilded room and then turned to left and saw Marcus looking back at me. Aro, Caius, and their wives weren't there. It was just me and Marcus. He reached out his hand and caressed my cheek with his fingers. I cringed away from his touch but he did not move his fingers.

"Don't go." He whispered, and then suddenly the scene warped. I was standing facing Aro, and his face was terrifying. For once his anger and cruelty had sunk to the surface. I tried to back away but I tripped over something and then stumbled to the ground. Aro reached down for me, his fingers hooked into claws. I screamed and turned my head. I had to escape. It was then that I saw what I had tripped over.

It was Jacob.

Then the strangest thing happened….I could feel myself waking up….could see the cell taking shape around me….but then I saw someone I hadn't thought about it a long time. It was Benjamin. The vampire who could control the elements….his head was poking from a hole in the ground and he was grinning at me. He put his finger to his lips and then disappeared. Three minutes later I was completely awake. I ran my hands over the place where Benjamin's head had been, my heart pounding. I felt nothing at first…then a small seam brushed my fingertips and I snapped my hand back. Dream. Dream. Dream. It was a dream. I told myself as I rested back against the cold wall. Another art of my dream swirled through my mind and I felt the odd flip in my stomach that I got whenever I realized something strange was going on.

I vowed then that I would find out about Marcus's wife.

****

"Morning, Ness." Seth mumbled sleepily. I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Morning, sleepy head." I teased. He yawned and stretched.

"Not much else to do here." He said groggily. I sighed, he was right. If our lives weren't already in danger from the Volturi, I'd think we'd die of boredom.

"Seth?" I asked slowly. He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Do you….do you know anything about Marcus?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Seth looked at me with a confused expression.

"Uh….not really…I mean he doesn't do much…and I'm just the inviso-pawn in this whole thing….but..." He paused as something flickered across his face. "Although….there was this time…remember how I told you the two times I tried to escape I got beat pretty bad?" I nodded, my hands clenching automatically. "Well….the second time I actually was able to rip a finger offa one of the guards. Too bad it wasn't Felix right?.....anyway, they seemed like they weren't going to hold back as much…sure was the worst beating I've ever taken. Aro was pretty mad about it too, he's allot less friendly with a 'dog' like me. But anyway, I thought they might not you know..stop this time. But then Marcus told them that the plan wouldn't work if I was dead. Aro agreed and then the rest stopped. And you know by that time I really didn't know what the hell was goin' on, ya know? But it seemed like Marcus….was trying to help me." He stopped and looked out the cell doors, his boyish face troubled. I nodded. I knew it. Out of three Ancients Marcus had a conscious.

And if one of them had a conscious then I wouldn't give up hope.

****

I was so bored. Seth was snoring quietly in the corner. I started singing every song I knew in my head. Starting with all my favorite classical composers, then Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, and Muse. I wished I had some kind of CD or MP3, but instead I contented myself with signing the lyrics or humming the tune as loud as I could in my head. The Volturi may be trying to actually kill me. I was that freaking bored. I sighed and leaned my head against the cell wall. I wondered why they hadn't come for me….I had thought that they would want to indoctrinate me into their "family" by taking me out for a walk every day and showing me around this prison they called a home. But no had come today. When we had woken up there was a scrap of bread for Seth, but otherwise nothing. Suddenly a creaking noise interrupted my thoughts. I sprang up and looked around wildly. A dark figure was moving towards the cell, the door already closing. As the sliver of light got smaller and smaller the figure got closer. The first thing I recognized sent a jolt down my spine.

Pale blond hair.

My heart started racing. It could be two people, and since his head as bowed I couldn't see which one. If it was Marcus I might be able to get the answers I wanted…if it was Caius then Aro might have changed his mind.

Perhaps boredom wasn't going to be my killer.

Whoever it was got closer and closer, I straightened up and faced the cell door. Head high. Slowly the figure raised their head. I instantly recognized the smooth bored features. Relief washed through me and my shoulders relaxed a little. Marcus just looked at me for a long second before I bowed my head respectfully. Marcus would be the only ancient to which I showed respect.

"To what do I owe this visit, Marcus?" I asked. He seemed momentarily taken aback by my polite demeanor. Yeah, I had to inherit some personality traits from my dad. His face slipped back into blankness once again though in a second.

"I decided to check on you. I know you must be getting very thirsty." Ah, kindness. Such an underdeveloped practice in this hell.

"Thank you for your concern. But I am fine….I will in no way hunt humans. I would rather die." Not that the thought of human blood wasn't making my throat burn like crazy. But I wouldn't let that change who I was. Marcus nodded and then took a step back as if he was going to leave. I held out my hand, only meaning to make a "stop" gesture, but instead I brushed my hand against his cloak.

Absolute quite followed.

Marcus seemed stunned. I was shocked. Partially because of his reaction, I mean I had just touched his cloak. But his eyes were showing sparks of emotions. Something I'd never seen before in him. I decided the best thing to do was apologize.

"Er…sorry. I only meant for you to stop….I wanted to say something." He composed himself quickly and then stilled.

"Yes?" His voice didn't even make it seem like a question. All his words sounded the same.

"I wanted to thank you. I remember the fight that happened six years ago…you….you were the only one who voted for me to live because you felt I actually should. Aro was forced into it. Caius probably wanted to kill me himself…so thank you. I remember." Marcus seemed surprised, even though the only way I could tell was the slight raise of his left eyebrow.

"Truly a long memory for a Dhampir. Do not thank me though. It was the right thing to do obviously, as I can see before me that you are not dangerous. It was merely a choice based on my opinion." I raised my eyebrows. This was a tough nut to crack.

"I think that perhaps it was a little bit of empathy on your part, Marcus. Do not write off your kindness as a state of facts….also…what did you call me?" Dhampir. I hadn't heard that one before. Marcus seemed almost confused by my words. That was good. Confusion made for a slip of tongue. And that's exactly what I needed.

"It is what the mortals call half-vampires. Apparently they are quite popular in human fantasy stories." I laughed softly. "How would you know?" I asked.

"I often read mortal works. It's interesting to see through their weak eyes." It almost seemed like a joke. I smiled.

"That's very interesting, Marcus. I wouldn't have thought that about you." Already learning new things. This was exactly what I needed. Marcus blinked and then took another step back. I took a deep breath. This was my chance. Good luck, Renesmee. I reached out through the bars and snagged his cold shale-textured hand.

Deathly silence.

"Please stay. It's so boring here, and if I'm going to be part of the Volturi I'd like to learn more about you." Lie. Huge lie. Dear god do not him see through me. Marcus still did not react. Nothing. I counted my heart beats. One-hundred and forty beats later Marcus took a shuddering breath and then slipped his hand out of mine. That was alright. He did not step away and that was what mattered. He looked at me with his dull red eyes, more black then red now.

"What….do you want to know?" I could bet you this was the most he talked in half a century. I sat down slowly and crossed my skinny-jean encased legs, staring up sweetly at Marcus. He stared down at me, surprised yet again.

"Well…..how did the Volturi start?" I asked. A tiny part of me actually wanted to know. Marcus sighed and then looked out into the dark gloom of the dungeon.

"Aro was changed over ten centuries ago…..when he realized he had such a powerful ability he decided to build a coven. He changed me first. We found Caius, and then slowly started to build members. Now we are the largest and most powerful coven in Europe." I sighed inwardly. That was the fact-fact-the end version of the story. I wanted details. Oh well, I needed to take my time. I nodded.

"That's interesting. My grandfather Carlisle once told me about his journey to your coven. I'm sure you heard that one, but did you ever hear about how he created my family? Here, I'll tell you." I set into the story, making it rich with details. Marcus almost seemed…interested. That was good.

When I finished my story Marcus nodded politely, thanked me for my story, and then back out of the dungeon. I sighed, triumphed, and sat against the wall.

"What the hell was that about, Ness?" Seth's voice startled me.

"AH! Oh, Seth…your awake…." I took a deep breath. "I can't tell you. It's bad enough I know my motives. I'm trying not to think about it." I said quickly. Seth nodded in understanding and then grinned at me.

"I trust you, Ness. I won't think about it either."

****

The next day Marcus did not come and I got worried. But then the next day he once again arrived at the door. And the next day, and the one after that, and the one after that. Soon he came every day.

I followed a pattern; I would take his hand (he would let go after a stunned silence) then I'd sit down, ask him something about the Volturi and then tell him story about my life.

On the third day he let go of my hand slower than usual.

On the fifth he held it for six-hundred heart beats.

And on the tenth he sat down with me.

It was on the thirteenth day that I asked him the question I had been saving for so long.

"Marcus…what happened to your wife?" I asked quietly. Marcus was still for a second, then he sprang to his feet in a blurred movement. His face was tight, emotions I had never seen on him flickering across his pale sharp face. Confusion. Pain. Denial. Sadness. Anger. Pain. I waited until each one had run its course before looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Wait. Don't go, please." He had already taken three steps back. He shook his head and turned, walking all the way to the door. I felt sadness. I had started this routine with Marcus to try and help me and Seth. But I had found myself overwhelmed with pity for this broken man. And then, slowly, I started to like him. I felt as if he was my friend, however one-sided the friendship might be I found myself caring for him. I looked down at my clenched hands and felt another wave of guilt and grief. I would miss him. I would honestly miss one of the Ancients. I thought hate was the only thing I would ever feel for any of them. But here I was, sad to know that Marcus would never come back.

"Her name was Didyme." Marcus's quite voice shocked me. I gasped and my head whipped up to see him paused with his hand on the door. He hadn't left.

"What happened?" I whispered. Marcus's hand clenched into a fist. For some reason it seemed as if he was battling with himself.

"She…..was…killed….by a…..enemy coven…..she went out…to help Aro and some others with an errand…..he came back…said that she was….killed in a surprise attack…..he brought back…some of…her ashes….I killed…the coven….in vengeance….but it…didn't help……me…..I….nothing...could help me." Then he turned slowly, his face broken into a hundred facets of the shattered mask he'd worn for so long. He reached slowly to his neck and withdrew a satin pouch on an old black ribbon.

"Her ashes." He whispered. I felt a lump rise in my throat. So this was why he was like this. Dead. Numb. Cold. His mate, his true love, and been killed. Her ancient ashes still treasured by the man who loved her so much.

"I'm so sorry." I croaked. Marcus did nothing. Still and silent, not even breathing. After five minutes of this he dropped the bag and then walked closer to me. He reached his hand out and placed it on the top of my head. Then, something amazing happened.

He smiled.

It was a smile of someone who hadn't felt happiness in years and years. Tentative and small, but still there on his white face. His clouded eyes softer then I had ever seen them.

"Do not be sorry, Renesmee. For after centuries of being dead, you have done something to me I cannot explain. I have not smiled in over six hundred years. You….the prisoner of my brothers, have become a light in this darkness. I should be sorry. Sorry that you are here. Sorry that I did not realize before what you are……who you remind me of." He took a deep breath. "You remind me of Didyme. Her gift was happiness, and that is what she brought me. You too have brought me happiness. Small happiness. A flickering candle of warmth in the cold. But it is enough. So I thank you, Renesmee." I couldn't pinpoint my emotions anymore, so reeling and changing that I couldn't choose one. So instead of saying anything I looked up at Marcus and smiled.

He smiled back.

****

Late that night, I felt something I had not felt in awhile. Change. A whisper of hope in the bleak darkness. I know Seth felt it too, for his head raised from where it had lay on the cold ground and his eyes were more alert then I had seen them if a long time. Far away I heard a sound that filled me with strength. A sound that I knew would change my fate. A sound that brought tears of joy to my eyes.

It was the sound of someone humming my mother's lullaby.


	17. 16 Battle

16. Battle  
THAT MORNING I WAS AWAKENED BY THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS AS SOMEONE DREW CLOSER TO MY CELL. I RAI-  
sed my head and my eyes immediately met Marcus's. I heard the clinking sound of something being unlocked and then my door swung open. Marcus stared down at me and held out his hand.  
"Come with me." He said, his voice low and sharp. I shrank against the wall, afraid of what might be happening. I trusted Marcus but none of the other Ancients. Marcus saw my hesitation and smiled another faint, small smile. I smiled back, reassured enough to reach out and take his hand. He pulled my swiftly to my feet and turned as if to walk away.  
"Wait!" I said and turned back to the cell, Seth was watching us with raised eyebrows. "Seth. Please, let him come too." I said, widening my eyes and making the expression that I always used on my dad when I wanted something. Marcus looked between Seth and me a few times before nodding curtly  
"Whatever makes you happy." He said before turning and starting to walk to the door. I smiled at his back and then turned and saw Seth was already standing behind me. I grabbed his hand and started walking after Marcus. I felt a churning nervous sensation in my stomach. What was going on? It had to be important because Marcus seemed on edge…and Seth was coming, he had allowed it, not said we were just going on a walk or something. I focused on the humming I had heard last night. If it meant what I thought it did, then perhaps I should stop worrying….  
Or start panicking.  
Marcus took us down the familiar bedecked hallway, but to my surprise instead of turning into the gilded throne room as I expected he continued down the hall.  
"Marcus…where are we going?" I asked quietly.  
"The receiving room." He said bluntly, then he turned to look at me and his eyes softened. "Do not be afraid, Renesmee. I will not let any harm come to you or the wolf." Then he turned back and started his swift pace up again. It still amazed me to see emotion on his gaunt face. For so long he looked dead….but now sparks of life and flickers of smiles danced across his shadowed face when he spoke. It was amazing. I bit my lip as Seth and I followed Marcus down a dark hall and then around a sharp corner; if I was able to escape this place….I didn't….I didn't want to leave him. I couldn't….he had told me that I made him happy…..how would I leave knowing that he could turn back into the dead man again? My thoughts were cut short however when Marcus stopped in front of two large ornate doors. On the other side I could hear murmuring voices, I recognized Jane's snide tenor and Aro's almost manic-laughter. I tensed and Seth squeezed my hands.  
"Don't worry about it, Nessie." He whispered. Marcus turned to me, and the look in his eyes was almost exasperated. I cracked a smile at that and his whispery smile spread across his face. He reached over and patted my cheek gently, I had always been afraid of the powdery touch of the Ancients….but I didn't flinch away this time. All I felt was comforted by the familiar cool touch, surprised at how soft it was. Marcus turned back to the door and then pushed it open with a swift flick of his wrist.  
The inside room was huge, like a slightly smaller football field. On one end there were the three wooden thrones that littered any room Aro decided to grace with his presence, otherwise the only furniture in the room was a long ornate purple-black carpet that ran the length of the room. I was instantly reminded of the times Alice and I would hole up in front of the TV and watch the red-carpet coverage while rating the celebrities' outfits (Alice always gave them low marks). I shook away the thought and focused on the group by the thrones that had fallen silent. Demitri, Felix, Jane, Alec, Gianna, a woman who I think was named Heidi, and a few other dark grey-cloaked guards I recognized, and then a few lighter grey pawns, and of course Caius and Aro and their ghostly wives. Caius looked furious and Aro looked amused. Marcus started walking down the long hall, I followed cautiously with Seth at my heels. I could hear his heart accelerate out of nervousness or fear I wasn't sure. Once we were within five feet of the thrones Aro stood and held out his hands in a friendly gesture.  
"Ah, hello, dear ones! What a pleasant surprise! And Seth too! Oh how delightful!" He cried. Seth's expression mirrored my thoughts; what a weirdo. Marcus bowed his head politely and then looked up directly into Aro's eyes.  
"Aro…I have come here to ask for a vote on Renesmee's behalf. I believe that letting her out of the dungeon would be acceptable now, as we have kept her imprisoned for over three weeks. I know this is no time at all to us, but I'm sure it seems longer to her and the shapeshifter. I doubt that we are in danger from her family, regardless of whether they suspect us or not." The stunned silence that followed was almost unbearable. Of course I felt warmed by the fact that Marcus was standing in front of his brethren asking for me to be released. But the icy glares we were getting from ninety-nine percent of the people here were not heartening. Aro smiled a Marcus, as if he was understanding and caring. But his eyes burned with an emotion that made me shudder. I was afraid of two Aro's. One of them was the greedy side of him, the other the dangerous vampire-ruler…that one he kept under wraps, his smiles always kind, his words always soft. But there was the dangerous side of him.  
And his eyes showed just how close that side was.  
I'm sure Marcus could see it too but he didn't move, didn't wave away his request, didn't send me away. It touched me how much he seemed to care for me. I could tell that behind me Seth was about ready to phase, he hated being near the Ancients. But I couldn't pay much attention or try to sooth him, because Aro was starting to speak.  
"Dear brother, I am so happy to see you have taken a fondness for our Renesmee! I haven't seen you like this in so long, and I must say it brings me great joy to see you happy! But…" and here he shook his head sadly as if what he was going to say next caused him great pain. The faker. "But….I just don't know…..for you see, Marcus, I would cringe to think that it was possible in any way for our dear Renesmee to be taken from us. I just want to make absolutely sure that the Cullen coven will not come for Renesmee dear….just a little while longer, and then I will be able to let her go with a clean conscious…." He trailed off and I could see his motives clear as day.  
He wanted to break me.  
I was about to speak, tired of being quite and small. Damn politeness in front of Marcus! But then Aro opened his mouth again, his eyes taking on the look of phony-grief. What else could he do?  
"Marcus….a thought has just occurred to me….what if, and I mean no offensive to dear Renesmee and our wolf…..but what if, perhaps while you were visiting Renesmee, my brother, that you were attacked? Now I know Renesmee wouldn't want to hurt you, but what if the wolf became volatile?" He shook his head slowly as dread started to seep deep into my bones.  
"Now, dear one, I don't want to have to force you into anything. But I really think it would be better if you didn't visit Renesmee every day. I fear for you, brother. If anything were to happen to you I don't know what I would do! Please don't take this the wrong way, but I just think it would be better if you stayed in safety. I'm sure Caius would agree" The cold set in completely now. So this is what he could do.  
He could take Marcus away from me.  
My heart was beating faster and faster, my throat swelling. No, no, no, no! He can't take away Marcus! NO! Marcus seemed almost at a loss for words, his eyes were confused, searching Aro's face, his features were rigid, his hands half way raised. Aro seemed pleased, and Caius was smirking at me as if to say "And you thought we were finished with you." Red tinted my vision as anger swarmed down my body like rushing water. I hated him. I hated all of them. They had taken everything away from me. My hands curled into claws and I took a step forward. Marcus's hand whipped around and grabbed my shoulder as if he could guess my intentions. Seth's heart was beating like crazy behind me, I'm sure he wasn't sure what to do at this point. Then, in the time it took for my heart to beat once, everything changed. Every single person in the room froze. I closed my eyes and opened them again. No, no dream. I could still hear it. Everyone was still statutes. I turned to face the direction from which the sound was coming from. Every nerve in my body was alive, every vein in my body pounding.  
It was the sound of running.  
But it wasn't just the running that alerted me. No, it was the sound of huge padded feet hitting the ground. I would know that sound anywhere. I looked over at Seth and saw his expression was a mix between elated and stunned. That's how I felt too. Aro and Caius were talking furiously, but I didn't even care. They were about to get exactly what was coming to them. A nagging voice in mead started protesting as the footsteps grew louder. What if they got hurt? Suddenly my faded a little, replaced by worry. But it was too late for that now.  
They were here.  
The large doors flew open. Time seemed to slow as the figures entered the room. Everything blurred then became extremely sharp. There they were.  
My family.  
So consumed was I in my happiness I barely registered the other faces. But they were there, behind the front line other allies stood with their faces cold and emotionless. Siobhan, Maggie, Liam, Tia and Benjamin, the two Romanians, Zafrina, Senna, Kachirir, and the entire Denali coven, all of them were looking into the large room, their body's coiled and ready for a fight, their eyes glittering.  
But I couldn't focus on any of them.  
Because in front of them all was the faces that had never let, the people who I had dreamed about since the first day I had been kidnapped. Emmet, Rosalie, Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Alice. My mom holding hands with my dad. Seth whooped "Oh, Hell yeah!!" and then exploded into a wolf. But I didn't even focus on it. Because the thing I was looking at was like a blow; the emotions hit me so strongly.  
The huge red-brown wolf.  
Jacob. My Jacob. He was so close, I felt tears pinch my eyes and the outraged hisses and snarls behind me became little more the humming. I started to run, I needed to touch him, to make sure this was real. That he was real. But I felt something constricting on my shoulder. I turned and saw Marcus's hand clamped on my shoulder still. His face was torn, emotions conflicting with each other on his pale face; relief. Sadness. Pain. Anger. Confusion. I was about to say something when I heard a deafening snarl. Oh no. I turned and saw Jacob running towards us, his wolf-face furious.  
"Jacob, no!" My dad yelled, but Jacob ignored him. He must have come to the conclusion that Marcus was holding me against my will. Okay, he was, but I think he was confused, wanting to let me be happy with my family, and yet knowing that these were his enemies. Jacob was still charging, and no one behind us was doing anything. Why? I couldn't let Jacob hurt Marcus!  
"No!" I yelled and I flung my arms around Marcus's torso. I heard Jacobs kid to a halt in front of us, but his shock was nothing compared to Marcus's. Marcus had frozen, he wasn't even breathing. His right hand was hovering in the air where my shoulder had been, and his other hand was in held out in front of him as if he was going to try and stop Jacob. I wondered if he could. Were the Ancients fighters? I turned my head to look at Jacob, half my face still buried in Marcus's soft billowing black cloak. I looked Jacob directly in his huge black eyes.  
"Not him." I whispered. Jacob stared at me for a long second before bowing his huge head. Relief surged through me and I stumbled forward and threw my arms around Jacob's neck, sobs wracking my body. I buried my face in his neck and sobbed wordlessly. He was here. Jacob. I could touch him, feel the soft fur of his wolf-form, feel his hot breath on my neck as he curled his giant head around to rest on my back, could feel the hot tears that ran down his face into my hair.  
"I love you." I whispered into chest. Up until this point I was lost in my own little word. Nothing could penetrate this bubble I had created around me and the person who mattered most to me in the entire world….but now I could hear it, the snarls, hisses, growls, and furious whispering was issuing from behind me.  
We had invoked the Volturi's wrath.  
I heard a growl begin to grow deep in Jacob's chest, I was so tightly pressed against him that I could even feel his throat starting to vibrate. I turned my head slowly and looked at the Volturi side of the room. Aro was standing up, looking at Carlisle, his face was composed but again I could see the burning enraged fire in his eyes, I squeezed Jacob's neck tighter. What if I lost him today? What if him coming to save me led to his death?  
It would be my fault.  
The thought clawed at my mind and shot knifes raking across my skin. I tried to focus on Aro, tried to keep away the tainted thoughts. Stay strong. Stay strong. I had been able to keep my head up this whole time and I wasn't going to stop now. Aro took a step forward, and I noticed a small cowering vampire behind him, touching his cloak.  
"Carlisle, I'm surprised….coming here to kill me and my dear ones?" He held out his hands as if heartbroken. I peeked at my family. Carlisle was stepping forward, flanked by Emmet, Jasper, and my dad.  
"Aro, do not play innocent. We are not here to play games. You had kidnapped two of our family members and we have come here to bring them back. We will not harm you or your coven if you give them to us peacefully." I was surprised; Carlisle's face and voice held one of the calm, peaceful demeanor he usually had. He looked angrier then I had ever seen. I peeked over and saw Marcus was looking down at his hands, his face twisting with emotions that wouldn't agree with each other. Part of me wanted to go over to him and comfort him….but my arms wouldn't even budge from around Jacob's neck. I bit my lip and another sob rolled through me, this one wasn't because of hysterical grief though. No, it was because no matter what happened today I was going to lose Marcus. Aro laughed softly and shook his head at Carlisle's acquisition.  
"Ah, old friend, surely you know we meant no harm you dear Renesmee!" He laughed again at the seeming absurdity of this. "Now, I know my friend that you oppose the way me and my coven live….and sometimes I'm sure you see us as the enemies. But that's not who we are, Carlisle." Here his voice grew soft. I wasn't sure what to think about this…my only thoughts were scrambled and disjointed.  
"My friends, all of you, who we are here and what we are….we are the protectors of all vampire kind. We see to it and the peace and balance of our way of life is protected. It is us who keep you all safe.  
So can't you see, my friends, that at times we must take back from those we give so much to? Sometimes it is necessary if we wish to keep building our defenses, to keep protecting all of the vampires of the world? We mean no harm and no ill feelings on to any of you, and I know that sometimes the separation of loved ones is hard….but you should consider it a sacrifice for the greater good." I felt numb. He was saying that my abduction was….was for the good of vampires?  
No. He couldn't. No.  
Jacob was snarling quietly in my ear and I pressed my cheek to his forehead.  
"Shhh…it'll be okay." I murmured. Then, suddenly, it hit me. It will be okay. For them. I could do something.  
None of them had to die.  
The idea blossomed quickly and my heart started to accelerate. I could do it. My family, my friends, my Jacob…I could protect them. No one would have to die today. Although, I thought with a sickening jerk of my stomach, I would have to die. My heart wouldn't stop beating, but still part of me would have to die to do this. I would have to be like Marcus had been, numb and unfeeling. I bit my lip, I would have to do this at the right moment…maybe it would work out…maybe I could go home…..  
"Aro as I told you before we will not leave without Renesmee. If it comes to a fight then so be it." Carlisle said, his voice cool. My heart dropped. No, it wasn't going to work out. I had to do it now. I turned my face and pressed my mouth to Jacob's ear, lowering my voice so that I couldn't be overheard. I didn't have much time.  
"Jacob, I love you so much. I will love you for as long as I live and I promise that no matter what happens that will never change. And-" here I had to swallow a sob. "And I ….I will always…you will always be my husband…..so….so please promise me that you won't try and stop what I'm about to do. Please. For me. Don't stop me and don't' get hurt. Tell my family I love them, alright? I'm sorry." I took a shaky breath and then stood up and looked into his eyes. They were torn, confused, but I knew that he wouldn't resent me my last wish. Our bond made denying each other anything hard, but I knew Jacob would be able to if he really wanted do. I just hoped he wouldn't.  
"I love you." I whispered. Then I turned and faced Aro. This was the right thing to do. Everyone but me could be safe, and even I, though I'd have to live my own personal hell, would be relatively unharmed. I would make sure my family wouldn't come back.  
Too bad they were all so damn stubborn.  
I sighed and then clenched my fists. I had to try. I would try. I would do my best to save them.  
"Wait, Aro." I called out, my voice cold and inflectionless already. A whine escaped Jacob and pain clenched at my chest. I heard my family gasp. Aro turned to me and smiled.  
"Yes, dear Renesmee?" He asked with false sweetness, the anger still smoldering in his eyes. I took a deep breath and focused on Aro's face. If I looked at Jacob or my family my resolve might waver.  
"I'll make you a deal." I said quietly. Aro's eyebrows raised, I could tell he was intrigued, the greed in his sparking.  
"And what might that be, dear Renesmee?" He asked. I could hear murmurs coming from my family's side. I bit my lip and fought the urge to look at them.  
"I…I will join you. I will become a member of the Volturi. I will be loyal and do whatever you ask me to. I will become the perfect guard member. But..." And here I paused. Aro was staring at as someone would stare at a prize to win. Hisses and cries erupted from my family. But I ignored them. "But you will let my family go. You won't harm them at all. They will be able to leave peacefully. If that happens then you will never be so pleased with a guard then you are with me." I took another step forward and then held out my hands to Aro.  
"Here. See. I mean every word." I waited as Aro smiled and took a step forward he placed his hands on mine and closed his eyes. I took a deep breath and looked over at my family. My dad was staring at me, his eyes pained and probing at the same time. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.  
_DAD![i] I whispered in my head. I had to say it now, and it was fine that Aro was listening, that would solidify the truth of my deal even more. My dad's eyes widened and he nodded slightly to show he was listening.  
[i]Dad, I'm sorry about this. I'm sorry that you had to come here and try to rescue me for nothing….but it has to be this way. I was happy when I thought I might be rescued….but I can see now that if any of you fight for me you could die. I can't let that happen, dad. Please. I love all of you so much…so this is the better way. Aro has what he wants, he won't come to hurt you….and, dad….don't…try to come back for me, please. I…I think probably Chelsea will make me loyal to the Volturi, I mean really loyal. I might not be the same….I might be like Marcus so don't-[i]  
My long winded mind-speech was cutoff when my dad's eyes flew open and his head whipped over to Aro. What? What was going on? I glanced at Aro and saw that his expression was focused…almost like…almost like he was trying not to think of something. Was that it?  
"Marcus!" Edward shouted. I gasped, what was he [i]doing_? All the vampires, and I mean all of them, seemed to be thinking along those lines too, because their heads swiveled to look at my dad. My mom was looking at him as if he was half crazy. He might be. I turned my head swiftly to see Marcus looking at my dad with a confused expression on his face.  
"Marcus he's lying to you! About Didyme. It was him. He killed her." My dad cried. My body went limp. Didyme? Aro…..killed….Didyme? I whipped my hands out of his and scrutinized Aro's expression. His face was clear and surprised, but I detected a hidden emotion buried deep in his eyes.  
"My dear brother, I do not know what our young friend Edward means! I would never want anything to happen to Didyme. She was my sister and I loved her dearly, you know that." My body, which was just thawing out, turned completely numb once again.  
Sister?  
Didyme…was Aro's sister? Marcus blinked slowly and then shook his head as if trapped in slow motion.  
"I don't know what you are talking about, young one." Marcus said finally, his voice tight. My dad gritted his teeth.  
"He's not thinking about it right now so I can't see the exact story….but it was there….the lies, the motives….he's lying to you! It was all a lie. Didyme…she…was…a….liability...or...no….something about you too going…away?" My dad seemed to picking as many minds as possible to find the story. My mind was reeling. I believe my dad…of course I did. He wouldn't lie about something that could kill us all. But that was only part of my thoughts. The other was the fact that Aro had killed Didyme. It was Aro's fault.  
"Edward, I am ashamed that you would talk about something so painful. You are hurting my dear brother, and it pains me to see that. Please stop or I will have to have someone stop you." Aro's voice turned icy at the end. I bit my lip. I had two options; one, I finish my deal with Aro and watch my family walk away forever. Two, I pick at this Marcus thread and hope for a miracle.  
Unreliable. But so tempting.  
"Marcus, please. Believe us…Maggie!" My dad turned to the red-haired vampire and motioned her forward. "Maggie can tell if someone is lying or not. Am. I. Lying?" He said directly at Maggie. Maggie stared into his eyes for a long second before shaking her head.  
"No. He's telling the truth. The lie is from the Ancient." Maggie said, and then cringed as if this would cause her to be immediately burned. Caius snorted.  
"Oh, of course. Edward's ally is saying that he's telling the truth….how believable." I looked over at Marcus, his face was torn, half defiant, half confused.  
"Why should I believe an enemy?" He finally said, his voice harsh and cold. I flinched. There had to be a way to make him believe…..what had triggered the thoughts in Aro in the first place? I had said his name…and…..  
_Chelsea_  
Of course! Chelsea…the one who could knit alliances together would the the perfect key for Aro's plot. If Marcus was shattered by Didyme's death then how easy would it be for Aro to force him into absolute loyalty. That's why Marcus had been so dead. He lost his reason for life and yet this...force drove him to follow Aro.  
To follow his love's killer.  
I cut my eyes at my dad. He nodded when he read my idea and then tilted his head at Marcus. _Believe an enemy _he mouthed. I raised an eyebrow…then it hit me. Marcus wouldn't even try to believe my dad.  
But he would listen to me.  
"Marcus. Don't believe an enemy if you don't want to. But believe me. It fits, Marcus! It all fits! Aro couldn't lose you! So he took out Didyme! If he cared so much for her then why would she die at an attack? The Volturi always conquer their foes….why would she be the only casualty?" I called out. Marcus's head snapped to me and his expression shifted through unreadable emotions as I spoke. Finally he looked away from me.  
"Don't get involved, Renesmee. All of this is a lie." I made a frustrated growl and I frantically scrambled for an idea. Suddenly this wasn't just about me and my family. This was about Marcus. He deserved the truth. I glanced at the small brunette vampire that I knew to be Chelsea, she seemed timid and scared. A thought flashed across my mind. What if there was a way to break her bonds? Maybe….maybe…..I looked over at my dad and flashed through the plan. My dad nodded tersely. It was a very, very risky plan.  
Could it work?  
They would need a distraction. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to tune out the buzzing that had become the Volturi's conversation. It sounded as if they were preparing for a fight. Dammit!! I should have just stuck with the deal….no. I had to think…distraction…distraction. Then it came to me and my eyes flew open. What was the best distraction for vampires?  
Human blood.  
I listened to the steady beating of my heart. I had human blood. I could be a distraction. I glanced at Aro's annoyed face. His eyes were black. Good. That would make this easier. I brushed my fingertips against my arms and grimaced. Of course. Vampire skin. Impenetrable as stone. I tapped my fingers against my thigh and tried to think. How to draw blood? I brushed my tongue against the inside of my cheek and smiled; the skin inside my mouth was soft. One of the genetic quirks I had. I took a deep breath and peeked at my dad. His expression was pained but he nodded. I took a deep breath and then darted in front of the Volturi. I steeled myself and then sucked in my cheeks so that they were sandwiched between my teeth. I counted to three and then bit down. Hard. It hurt. Tears sprang to my eyes and a whimper bubbled in my throat. I swallowed it and then opened my mouth. Blood dribbled to the floor, making patterns on the dull rug. There was a common intake of breath and I peeked up to see the Volturi watching me with hungry eyes. I spit out another glob of blood. Come on, dad….I saw Felix shift, his eyes torn between thirst and the desire to kill. Well come and get it, big boy. I shifted back on my heels and then bit down on my cheek again. More blood. Some guards shifted closer. Aro raised his hand, and I knew he was about to say something. But it was too late, because it was then that I felt the wind as someone passed me. I closed my eyes but I heard the scream, heard the snapping. When I opened my eyes my dad, Emmet, and Jasper were surrounded my guards, their arms full of Chelsea. But, suddenly, everyone froze. I watched as a strange look crossed each and every member of the Volturi's (excluding Aro and Caius) eyes. Was this the effect of Chelsea's death? Were the bonds severed? I turned my head and looked at Marcus. His eyes were unfocused. But before I could talk to him Aro snarled. I whipped my head around and saw that his face had finally broken into fury.  
"How dare you?!" He cried. He stabbed a finger at my three family members who were now in a very compromising position. "Kill them." He hissed. The guards were still frozen…but slowly they started to move. Felix was first. He lunged for my dad, but missed my inches as my dad blurred out of his line of attack. My heart stopped. No. A fight. My fault….my fault…my fault….I was broken from my half delirious thoughts when a harsh voice snapped through the room.  
"Stop." I turned and saw Marcus staring at us with a new fire in his eyes. My heart soared with hope. Maybe there was still hope.  
"What are you talking about, Marcus?" Caius growled. Aro clenched his fists and then let his expression sink back into calmness. The group that had been attacking my dad, Emmet, and Jasper, had halted momentarily at the sound of Marcus's voice once again turned back to my family.  
"Aro! Call them off and speak to me." Marcus hissed. I was stunned. I had never heard Marcus like this. His very voice rang with emotion….had Chelsea's voice unlocked the vat of emotions? Could he see the truth? Aro had turned to face him.  
"What is it you wish to speak of, dear brother?" Aro murmured. Marcus raked his eyes across the side of the room that the Volturi (and my three family members) converged. My breath slowed until it barely whispered from between my lips. I allowed myself to glance at Jacob and Seth. They were standing side by side and exchanging glances. I knew they were probably thinking along the lines of "what the hell?" I swallowed and turned back to Marcus. Please make this right.  
"Chelsea did bond me. I can feel it. The weight lifted off my shoulders. The chains that tied me to you have melted away…..I can think clearly…." He cocked his head to the side as if examining me. "I haven't felt this way since Didyme died." He narrowed his eyes and I saw a shudder pass across his features. I could barely imagine what he must be thinking. After all these centuries his forced loyalty had fallen away. And now he was faced with a new fact that perhaps his greatest ally had killed his wife.  
How much true loyalty remained?  
"Marcus, how can you accuse us? Your coven, your brethren?" Aro had the perfect look of shock. I glanced at my dad, but he wasn't there. Neither were Emmet and Jasper. I looked over at my family and saw them standing in the front, Chelsea's body scattered at their feet. Wow. That was fast. I wonder if I could run to them…what would Aro do? What would the guard do? Although right now they seemed occupied with Marcus. My heart was beating crazily as I studied the situation that I had a feeling was really starting to get out of hand.  
"I want to know the truth, Aro." Was all Marcus said.  
"Why would you believe such a horrid rumor, Marcus? And one that is so cruelly blamed on me. Really, Marcus, I am surprised." Aro shook his head and then turned to Caius. "Please, dear Caius, tell him that he is mistaken in his claims." Caius sighed and rolled his eyes.  
"I agree with Aro, Marcus. I can't believe you are considering challenging us. Just because of this rescue party. Why don't we just kill them and then be rid of this whole mess?" Crap. This had gotten way out of hand. I needed to do _something_…but what? I bit my lip and looked over at my family. My mom was in her classic legs-slightly-apart hands-spread-a-few-inches-from-her-side that meant she was shielding, my dad was reading everyone's mind which I could determine by his glazed look, Emmet and Jasper were in defensive poses, ready to fight or run, and Alice, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme were flicking their gazes between Marcus, me, Aro, and Caius. The rest of the vampires behind them were very still. I swallowed and steeled myself for Marcus's reply.  
"I don't know who to believe anymore, Caius. I just know I'm being lied too." He narrowed his eyes as if he was questioning something, then his eyes flickered to me for a second. I smiled back. His lips twitched and then his glaze moved back to Aro. "For it is true that Edward would have reason to lie to me. But I can see some truth in his words….some holes in the story you told me about Didyme that I never was able to look at objectively because of Chelsea…" He trailed off and then sighed. "Tell. Me. The. Truth." He finally said. Anxiety crawled across my skin and I looked over at Jacob, he was looking over at the other members of his pack, I was sure he was starting to make strategy plans. Suddenly I felt very small. Here in the no man's land in between my family and the Volturi. Jacob and Seth converged in a corner closer to my family. The closest one to me was Marcus. An idea struck me then. I coiled my muscles, ready to make the greatest leap of speed I could, anything to get as far away from Aro without brining any kind of danger to my family. So who could I go to?  
Marcus.  
My muscles loosened and I soared through the air until my feet fit the carpet with a muted thud next to Marcus. I straightened up and looked at Aro's face. I enjoyed the look I saw; his careful mask of calmness was starting to fade again. Maybe in anger he would break.  
"Marcus, I will not tolerate this anymore. I cannot see why you are suddenly doubting us. I have told you of Didyme's unfortunate demise." I felt like I was in a giant game of ping-pong, the annoying human sport that Paul liked to play, the ball was ricocheting back and forth between Aro and Marcus. But who would finally drop it? I looked over at Marcus's face, I could see deep in his eyes there was confusion. Over what? His loyalty? Didyme? I could feel that this game was coming to a deadly end, but who for? Maybe all they needed was a referee…  
"Marcus. How could my dad know about Didyme? How could he know about the details of her death? Please, Marcus. Believe me. I'm not lying, I wouldn't lie. Not to you." I whispered, not even looking at him. I knew probably everyone could hear me. But whatever, that was fine.  
"Marcus, decide now who you believe." Aro said, his voice deadly soft. "Who you are going to fight with." Marcus was quite for three-hundred heart beats, finally he spoke his voice was very soft.  
"Why did you do it?" He murmured, his forehead creased as if he was trying to figure it out himself. My heart skipped a beat and I heard my family behind me talking amongst themselves. Aro's eyes turned to steel and I flinched automatically.  
"Does this mean you are siding with the enemy now, Marcus? That you are betraying your coven? I thought better of you." Aro seemed almost beyond fury…or maybe that was just him. Cold fury. His entire presence seemed like ice. Caius rolled his eyes in disgust and then flicked his fingers in front of him. With a whoosh of wind the Volturi guard was in front of the two Ancients in a stony line. My breath snagged in my throat.  
The battle was going to begin.  
I shrank against Marcus and bit my lip. The only literate thought that came to mind at this moment was; crap.  
"If this is all true, Aro. Then I have not betrayed you. You have betrayed me…betrayed all of vampire kind. Can't you see? See what we've become…..we're supposed to be peace-makers but instead we have become corrupt. What we do now is just power hungry. We've killed and taken because it benefited us. Not because it was right." He shook his head and looked at Aro. "I've been so blind." He murmured. I looked over at him and felt a smile spread across my face. He had done it. He had broken Aro's chain. Suddenly I felt cold air blow on my back as if someone had opened the door and let in a draft. I turned and saw that all my friends and family had moved to stand behind Marcus and me. In one second I felt arms wrapped around me and I was sobbing into my mom's hair. It was like another bubble had formed around me, I was enveloped by my family, their smells and familiar voices. But just as quick as it happened everyone was gone and back in fighting position. I wiped my tears and then turned to face the Volturi. I wanted to avoid this. Had tried to avoid this….but maybe some things are really inevitable.  
"I am sorry that it has to this, Aro. But I have tied to your by false loyalty for so long I did not see what we had become. It is time for the Volturi to change." At this point he eyes Jane, Alec, Felix, and Gianna significantly. A smile curled across my lips. Bye-bye, Felix. "If any of you wish to start a new Volturi, one who will help our vampire brethren then you can join us." Marcus said, weighing each word. My smile turned into a frown; if I had to spend any time with Felix I'd kill myself. Although I saw that Marcus was not looking at Felix. He was looking at Demitri. My eyes widened. Of course. The vampire who was inexplicably in love with Kokoro. Demitri stared at Marcus for a long second before looking past him. I knew he was imagining Kokoro because my dad made a startled sound in the back of his throat. Yeah, tell me about it. Marcus held out his hands and Demitri closed his eyes for a second, then in blur of movement he was standing in front of us.  
"Master." He murmured before turning to face the people who were once his allies. I didn't even want to look at Aro, but I heard his snarl.  
"If this is how you want to end it, then it's your wish." Aro hissed. Suddenly I wasn't on my feet anymore. One minute I was waiting for the attack and then the next minute I was streaking from the room on the back of…against wolf.  
"What the hell, Jacob?!" I squealed as he hurtled through the large doors and then whipped around, pushing them closed before letting me slide off his back. I glared at him.  
"Why did you do that?" I asked. He rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. Oh so I can't fight for myself anymore? "What about your pack?" I blinked and then snickered as if my question amused me. I guess this should be interpretated as "they can handle it" I sighed and then shook my head, it was impossible to stay angry at him. Jacob stared at me for a second and then nodded his head as if he wanted me to step back. My eyes widened; he was going to phase. I tripped back a few steps and then closed my eyes, waiting for the shimmering warmth that happened whenever someone phased. I felt it blow across my cheek like a kiss. Every muscle in my body was tight, waiting. I heard a familiar deep chuckle that sent warmth oozing through my body. Suddenly I felt the large warm arms I had craved wrap around me, pulling me closer to his body. My eyes flickered open. His face was inches from mine, I traced every curve with my fingertips drinking in every second. I felt so safe. So whole. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my face closer to his. Our lips met. It felt like I was floating. All the sadness, pain, anger, confusion, and worry that had eaten away at me for the last three weeks was gone, replaced by the overwhelming sensation of kissing Jacob. I never wanted to break away. But all to soon Jacob pulled back just a little, our noses touching.  
"I love you." He whispered. I closed my eyes at the thrilling bliss of hearing his voice again.  
"I love you too." I breathed. Suddenly a lump rose in my throat and tears started spilling from my eyes. I wrapped my arms tighter around him and buried my head in his neck, sobbing wordlessly. Jacob stroked my hair and kissed my forehead.  
"I'm so sorry, Nessie. I can't believe I let them take you. I'm so sorry. I love you." I shook my head and tried to stop crying.  
"D-don't' blame y-yourself. I'm j-just glad that y-you're here." I blubbered into his shoulder. He laughed softly and then took my head between his hands, raising it from his neck to look in my eyes.  
"Of course I'm here. Being without you was torture, Nessie. I went practically crazy….your dad had to actually restrain me from coming here as soon as we figured out what happened."  
"How did you find out?" I asked. Knowing that I'd get the whole story later.  
"That J guy slipped a hint to your mom." He said with a grin. I smiled; I knew it. The mention of my mom slapped reality back through my bubble. Jacob saw my face change into panic and he sighed.  
"They're going to be fine. Please don't worry. I'm sorry I took your you of there, but I couldn't handle having you in anymore danger. And…." He leaned down and kissed me again. When we broke apart Jacob grinned at me. "And I was kind of looking forward to that." I smiled and then kissed his jaw.  
"What do we do now? Wait? I'll die of an anxiety attack." I said. Jacob chuckled but held me closer; making it clear waiting was exactly what we were going to do. I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder.  
The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness. I could hear the battle through the thick door. The snapping, metallic noise. Hisses, snarls, gasps. And then the distinct sound of Emmet's booming laugh. At least he was enjoying himself. I listened for twenty more minutes, clutching Jacob closer to me every time a snap reverberated through the doors. What would I do if I lost someone? No...no…I couldn't even think about it. Suddenly, everything changed.  
It was silent.  
I stiffened and then tried to pry myself from Jacob's arms and over to the door. He grabbed my wrist and tugged me back.  
"No, Nessie. Wait." I shook my head and pulled on his hand. "Please, can we just check? I can't handle this." Jacob sighed and then walked over to the door, keeping me behind him. He opened the door a crack and then peered in. I felt like I was going to vomit, I was so tightly wound. He opened the door wider and then pulled me closer to him. I looked into the room and gasped. Piles of vampire parts littered the room. My head whipped around, I saw all of my family. They seemed unharmed. Although with a sickening lurch I saw Emmet was missing a finger. I looked around more and saw that my friends were still standing as well. Zafrina was tall and straight, smiling vaguely. Her sisters wore similar expressions. The Denali's, the Irish coven, Tia, Benjamin…all of them seemed unharmed.  
Was this possible?  
I stepped into the room and then gasped again. Aro, Caius, and their wives were standing by the thrones. Their expressions frozen with shock. Marcus stepped closer to them and then shook his head  
"I will spare your lives. I have lived with you as my brothers too long to kill you right now. Yu can suffer with the knowledge that I spared you while you didn't spare Didyme. And you can look out across the wreckage that was once your empire of lies." Then he stepped back, done with them for once and all. I felt a bubble of home rise in my chest. We had won.  
We were safe.  
Suddenly an idea struck me and I ran across the room in a blink. I stood in front of Aro and smiled.  
"You know I could pretend to feel sorry for you. But I'm not. You deserve this. You turned into a monster, Aro. Now you get to reap the rewards. I hope you have forever to think about this." Then I held out my hand. "But before that, I think you have something that belongs to me." Aro was numb for a second, then he reached into the folds of his cloak and withdrew my wedding ring. He dropped it into my palm. I was about the slip it on my finger when a warm hand pulled me back from the broken leader. I turned and saw Jacob smiling at me. He took the ring from my hand without words and then slipped it on my finger.  
"Love you forever." He whispered. I was about to reach up and kiss him when I was crushed in a hug from my entire family. I closed my eyes and let myself melt into my family.  
I was finally home.


	18. 17 Going Home

17. Going Home

FINALLY EVERYONE STEPPED BACK AND I WAS ABLE TO TAKE IN THEIR FACES. MY HEART SWELLED WITH JOY

as my eyes touched each of them.

"I can't believe it." I murmured. It was true, my family had stood up against the Volturi and won. I kept waiting to wake up and realize I was back in my cell waiting for Marcus to come so we would talk. Marcus….I peered through the crowd of my family and saw him staring at the wreckage around him. I decided to leave him be for the moment, he was obviously having some kind of epiphany.

"You know what I can't believe? Your outfit." Alice replied. Of course. My dad tried to elbow her in the ribs but she dodged and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, you think I'm happy about his? Gianna picked out my outfit from some punk's suitcase." I grumbled. My dad looked up.

"So Gianna kidnapped you?"

"And Felix." I shuddered at the memory. My dad growled sharply. Emmet took a step back and grinned at me.

"Happy as I am to see you, Ness, I have to go find my finger." He loped off into the room and I blinked. Only in a family of vampires. My mom grabbed my face in between her hands and kissed my forehead.

"We're so sorry, Renesmee. We should have been with you….if we had been there we could have killed them then instead of letting you go through this." I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Don't beat yourself up, mom. I'm…well, I'm glad it worked out like this. We saved Seth. And the Volturi were overthrown." My mom's eyes flickered, and I knew that she too was shocked by the way things had happened. Esme reached out and put her cold hand on my cheek.

"Are you hurt at all?" She asked, her soft voice concerned.

"No. I'm fine…although Seth wasn't…he was badly hurt." I turned to see the wolf Seth sitting down while Leah was staring at him no doubt mind-lecturing. My dad glanced over at him and his eyes flickered the length of his body.

"I think he'll be okay. Carlisle will be able to clean to clean out the worst of the wounds when we get home." Home. The word sent shivers of excitement up my spine. I was going home. Back to Forks...it was almost too good to be true

"Well I hope we can get home soon because now that Nessie is safe I have allot of wedding work to do." Alice said, her thin eyebrows crinkling together. My mom rolled her eyes and then took a step back.

"I think we should try to get home soon too. I know our friends probably want to get home as well." I looked up and saw most of our friends laughing and talking, probably reveling in the fact that they had destroyed the Volturi. I looked across the piles of bodies, my stomach twisted queasily when my eyes snagged on familiar pale brown hair. Looks like it was Jane's turn to burn.

"I want to go thank them." I said, my mom nodded and then took a step back, allowing me some room to move. I took step forward, feeling Jacob wrap his hand around mine as I started walking over to the group of our allies, that was good; I didn't want to leave him either. When we neared my friends Carmen turned and cried out.

"Oh, Nessie! _Mi querida_! I am so glad you are safe!" She ran up and gave me a hug, I squeezed her back, so happy to see my friend again. Tanya and Kate joined her in a minute and I blubbered thanks to all of them (of course I was crying again).

"Oh don't thank us, we really enjoyed ripping up these maggots." Kate said in an offhand manner. I grinned and then broke away from the hug to wave to Zafrina.

"It is good to see you again, child." Zafrina said as she blurred to my side. I smiled at her and then gave her a quick hug. In a flash we were in the middle of a jungle. I smiled, enjoying our old game. I showed her the forest outside my house in the winter, the snow was glittering in the sun but it was outshined by my mom and dad. Zafrina responded with a desert landscape, this I replied back with a waterfall. I stepped back, out of the illusion to grin at Zafrina.

"It's so good to see you, Zafrina." I said. She smiled back and nodded. "It's good to see you too, Nessie." I thanked and hugged the rest of my saviors before turning to look at Marcus, he was standing next to Demitri and they were talking very fast, their lips forming the words as lighting fast speeds. Demitri seemed upset almost, his face drawn as if he was in pain.

"Why did he stay?" Jacob asked, following the direction I was looking at.

"The human secretary here….well, she fell in love with him...and he loves her too." Jacob's eyes bugged out.

"Seriously? I thought was something only Bella would do." I elbowed his ribs and then cocked my head as I studied his face more closely. It really did look as if he was in pain.

"He was very close to Felix." My dad murmured, having heard my thoughts and running over to where Jacob and I stood. I nodded, so that was it….poor Demitri.

"How could a Volturi member fall in _love_ with a human? I mean doesn't he drink human blood? That's just crazy." Jacob grumbled. My dad seemed thoughtful at this.

"From what I can read of his mind he wasn't even conscious about falling in love with Kokoro. He had the job of watching over her in the first weeks to make sure she didn't run away. Apparently this made him very protective of her…and also, whenever he's around her, he feels very calm and peaceful. It's like she's a safe harbor for him." I thought this was very sweet. But I think Jacob muttered something about "Hallmark card".

"Still, he looks really upset….do you think he regrets fighting alongside us?" I asked my dad as we neared the side of the room where the four remaining Volturi members stood in statue-stillness while guarded by Emmet and Jasper. The wolves and the rest of my friends were picking up the pieces of the vampires and piling them up. I turned my head and then ran my tongue over the gashes in my mouth. They were still oozing a little and I winced, trying to clear my mouth of the tangy residue. The only thing weirder then drinking blood while it pumped through your veins, was drinking your own blood. My dad turned to me and caught my chin in his hand. Ah, right, he could hear what I was thinking. Probably even feel the pain I felt as my tongue snagged my wound's rough edges.

"Open up." He demanded, I sighed and then opened my mouth so he could peer in, Jacob joined him and I saw him shudder.

"Jeez, Ness, was this really necessary? I mean you could have just bit your cheek a little bit…or better yet not at all." Jacob muttered as my dad examined the cuts. As I couldn't say anything in this position I just rolled my eyes in Jacob's direction. Finally my dad was done and he took a step back.

"They should heal up soon…you may want to treat them in case of infection when we get home." I nodded along, but when he got to the end I got more alert.

"When _are_ we going home, dad?" I asked. My dad was about to say something when my mom suddenly appeared at his side.

"Soon. Probably today, we should talk to Marcus first though." She said, turning to look at the loan black cloaked figure. I nodded and started walking toward where Marcus stood, I wanted to talk to him too. What was he planning to do next? How was he feeling? Marcus turned when we were a few feet from his and his lips flickered into a small smile when his eyes met mine.

"I'm glad to see you are unharmed, Renesmee." He said softly. I smiled back. "You too."

"The Cullen family is eternally in your debt, Marcus. You saved us today, and helped Renesmee when we could not." My dad said, bowing his head respectfully. Marcus waved away my dad's words with a flick of his wrist.

"Your debt is already paid. Renesmee has given me back happiness. And you all helped free me from my false chains of loyalty." He sighed. "It saddens me that the empire I worked so hard to build soured so….and dead as I was to the world I was able to do nothing to stop it. I have been locked in my head for centuries now, only doing anything when Aro needed me. Despair over Didyme's death blinded me from the fact that it was Aro who had killed her." He shook his head morosely.

"I never understood exactly why he did it." My dad said quietly. Marcus looked over our heads, his eyes blank. I was sure he wasn't seeing the room anymore, but a distant memory. "I can only guess…for Aro will not answer any of my questions, as you saw. But I believe that when Didyme and I planned to leave the Volturi, to go off on our own, Aro decided to intervene…I remember…he gave us his blessing…that night…I proposed to Didyme….then one week later I lost her forever….I was more valuable to Aro then Didyme was. By removing her he was able to keep me…or my talent really….." For one brief second deep, crushing, agonizing, grief flashed into Marcus's black eyes. For one second I was able to see exactly how much pain Marcus was in, then just as vast as it had came, it vanished, his face once again composed.

"What are you going to do now, Marcus?" I asked.

"I am going to start the Volturi anew. Over time I will filter in more of the old guard, but only those I know can be trusted to change. For example, Jane will never be coming back. But perhaps Felix someday could be of use….I will have to keep them all under a close eye until I can be sure." My eyebrows rose without me telling them too. What was he saying? Was that why no one had started to burn the bodies? Demitri must have told them while I was drinking in my family happiness….

"You mean….you're going to _bring some of them back_?" I hissed. I couldn't believe it…weren't they call corrupt? They didn't have any Kokoro to keep them good like Demitri. Marcus smiled briefly at my obvious discomfort at the idea.

"Only a few. Many, I know, will never be able to come back." I nodded at this. Knowing there was no plan to put Jane back walking on this Earth was a huge relief.

"Do you plan to let anyone know of the change in power?" My dad asked. Marcus shook his head.

"I'm sure the vampire grapevine will take care of that for me." He said, and then, much to my immense shock, he laughed. It was a soft sound, like rustling pages of a book instead of the usual bell tone. I glanced at my mom and dad and saw that both of them wore my expression of shock. Marcus seemed to realize this and he laughed again.

"Sorry. Did I startle you?" This time I laughed.

"Yes, you did." I said. Marcus smiled back at me and then his gaze flickered over to my dad.

"I'm sure you are anxious to get your coven home. Please do not stay any longer then you need to. I will be able to handle everything here." My dad nodded and then laced is fingers through my mom's.

"We will be leaving as soon as possible. I just wanted to make sure that you needed nothing more from us. We wouldn't you or Demitri to be in any danger." Marcus shook his head.

"It will be fine." Marcus said. My dad said something about going to talk to our friends about leaving, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I was going to leave Marcus.

The thought brought a strange mixture of bitter sweet emotions. On the one hand, it meant I was going home. On the other it meant that I wasn't going to see Marcus, probably for a long time. He seemed, once again, to sense what I was thinking, because he reached out his hand and patted my cheek.

"Don't be sad, Renesmee, I'm sure we'll meet again soon. And thank you. You have given me more then you will ever know." I smiled back at him, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

"Thank _you_ Marcus, I wouldn't be going home without you." Then, on a sudden whim, I leaned in and gave him a hug. He smelled like the old books in Carlisle's study. It was comforting smell. Marcus was frozen for three heartbeats, then, very slowly, he wrapped his arms around me. I smiled, letting a ear slip down my cheek. It dawned on my suddenly that I was leaving part of my family behind. By strange, unexpected circumstances, Marcus had become my family, too.

I loved him.

I pulled away from the hug and then let a grin spread across my face.

"And you're right, we will be seeing each other again soon. If you think you're not coming to my wedding you're sadly mistaken." Marcus seemed taken aback for a second, then a smile broke across his face.

"I suppose I'll be there, then." Jacob took my hand in his and grinned and Marcus.

"Just don't bring anyone else. One Volturi member is bad enough." I elbowed him in the ribs and he chuckled. Marcus laugh too. I was struck by the oddness if the moment. Here I was, laughing with my shape shifter fiancée and a centuries old vampire who just a few months ago was my enemy. But I supposed that it was just the way my life was going to be. Full of surprises.

"Nessie! Jake!" I heard my mom call. I turned and saw her beckoning us over, I guess it was time to go. I turned and smiled one last time at Marcus before running with Jacob towards my family. I knew that Carlisle, Esme, and a few others would want to talk to Marcus, but I was ready to leave. To get into the sunlight. Jacob seemed to be thinking the same thing, because after a quick explanation to wolf-Sam, he let me keep running. I didn't know if anyone followed us, I didn't care. Jacob and I ran through the twisted maze that only hours ago had been my prison. But I was free now. My only goal was to make it out of this building, the sudden burning all consuming urge to breathe in fresh air and feel the sun's warmth on my skin was intoxicating. But as we neared the lobby a new thought struck me. Kokoro.

"Wait." I slowed down and Jacob matched my new stride. He looked towards me and raised one of his thick black eyebrows.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Kokoro, I think we should talk to her about this, I mean I know Demitiri's going to tell her but he could take awhile to work out everything down there and I want to let her know because she was so sad and-" My hurried speech was cut off when Jacob put his large hand on my mouth.

"Okay, okay, I got it, Nessie. No need to blabber on." He grinned at me. I kissed his pal and then started walking.

"Come on, slowpoke." I teased. Jacob chuckled and then grabbed my hand in his, so fast that I didn't have time to react he whirled me around to face him. In one swift moment he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. Once again I was hit by the sheer magnitude of how much I had missed him. Now that I was here, pressed against him with my arms around his neck, I could tell just how much _my heart had ached every second I was away. He pulled back a little and his warm breath caressed my_ face as he laughed softly.

"I never knew exactly how painful it would be to live without you, Ness. I never, ever want to do it again." As he spoke his lips moved against mine.

"You'll never have to." I whispered, then I gently ran my wedding ring's glittering gems along the back of his neck. "Remember?" He grinned and then kissed me again.

"Of course…it's hard to forget. Especially when my fiancée brings it up as she's about to sacrifice herself to the Volturi." At the end of his speech his voice got a little harder. I blushed and ducked my head.

"Sorry about that. I just…couldn't see any other way….I'm sorry I caused you pain." I said. Jacob sighed and tilted my chin back up with his chin.

"Don't apologize, Nessie. Just promise you won't do something like that again. You make it so damn hard not to give you anything you want…even if it's something I'd rather die the let happen. So just don't do it again, alright?" I rested my head on his chest and smiled.

"Trust me, Jacob. I will never do that again. It wasn't really all that pleasant for me." Jacob sighed and then laughed. I stayed in the protective circle of his arms for a minute longer before sliding my hands down his arms and taking his hand.

"Let's go, I want to see Kokoro and I _need _to get outside."

"Sure, sure." He replied offhandedly before starting to walk. I snorted and swung our hands in between us.

"It's funny to think about getting married, isn't it?" I asked, again struck by the oddness of discussing my future while surrounded by the dark walls of the Volturi's palace.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Might be stranger if it was with someone else though…anything that involves being with you is easy, Ness. I'm really not overly concerned…although when Alice starts going nuts over the plans I might get worried." I laughed and squeezed his hand.

"Don't worry about it; hopefully she won't go too nuts."

"Did someone mess with your head while you were here?" He teased. I was about to reply when the familiar gilded hallway swum into focus. The familiar dread pierced my stomach and I shuddered lightly. Jacob let go of my hand and tucked me under his arm. I took a steadying breath and let myself melt into his side. We passed the secret entrance into the killing room. Passed the door that led into the throne room. Passed other doors that I had never entered, and I never planned too. We came to the end of the hall and I pushed lightly on the door. It swung open and I peered into the generically cheerful waiting room. Kokoro was sitting at her desk, her arms were crossed on the wooden surface and her face was nestled in them. Her long silken black hair was fanned out around her. At first I thought she might be sleeping but then her head snapped up and whipped around d to face us.

"S-s-orry, so sorry I was just….please, p-please don't hurt me…oh." Her half babbled speech was cut off when she realized it was me and not a member of the Guard. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as the panic leaked from her black eyes.

"Sorry we startled you." I said with a soft smile. She scrutinized Jacob and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Who….what….is he?" She whispered. Jacob laughed under his breath beside me.

"His name is Jacob, and he's my fiancée….and er…" I trailed off.

"I'm a shape shifter, but I usually go by the term werewolf." Jacob finished casually. Kokoro's eyes widened but then she shook her head and muttered something that sounded like "…why am I even surprised?" Jacob chuckled.

"What happened? I saw…vampires…and huge wolves…running…were they your family? Did something happen?" She asked, her already pale face turned white with fear. For Demitri I was sure. I took a step forward and laid my hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. He's fine, and you are free." Her eyebrows pulled together.

"What…do…you mean?" She whispered. I could see the sparks of hope in their black depths. She wanted to believe she was free, but I knew she couldn't see a way.

"My family defeated The Volturi. Marcus is in charge now, and Demitri is safe. You can do whatever you want now. No one is going to hurt you." Kokoro stared at me for a long second before shaking her head.

"That's…not…possible...is it?" She seemed like she wasn't allowing to herself to hope.

"Go see for yourself. " I prompted. Kokoro's eyes seemed unfocused, as if the truth was to absurd to comprehend. Then, suddenly, her face became determined.

"Thank you, Renesmee. Thank you so much." Then she started running. I didn't turn to see her disappear down the hall, but I could hear the door slam and feel the cool air blow a few curls over my shoulder.

"Well that was interesting." Jacob said. I laughed and nodded, my focus already drifting to the outside again. My mind was so full of different emotions I was having a hard time focusing on anything for too long. Dad would have said I was acting like a Newborn.

"Let's go, Jacob. I haven't seen sunshine in so long!" Jacob's eyes tightened but he smiled and pulled on my hand.

"Hey, you know the way out of this friggin' place better than I do." He said. I laughed and started running again. Sunlight. I needed sunlight.

I could smell the outdoors before I reached the heavy wooden door. It smelled fresh and the air was cold, mixed in I could smell some spicy human food and a flowery perfume. Adrenaline surged through my veins and I pushed myself even faster. I hurtled into the door, pushed it open with a flick of my wrist. Then I was outside. I came to an abrupt stop and closed my eyes. The sunlight warmed my skin and I inhaled the sweet, cold air. Freedom seemed tangible in this moment. I could feel it, taste it. I felt like a weight I hadn't been aware of had suddenly been lifted of my shoulder, all my worries seemed small and insignificant this perfect moment. I would never have to fear the Volturi again. I could be with Jacob forever. I wouldn't lose my family. They were all safe and unhurt. My eyes flew open and I saw Jacob staring at me, his black eyes soft. I curled my arms around his neck and kissed him. The kiss was long and sweet. When we broke apart for air I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jacob asked, smiling at me.

"I'm just…so happy." I shrugged. "Maybe I'm a little delirious." Jacob kissed my lips lightly.

"Well if you're delirious then so am I. I thought I'd lost you, Nessie. This is one of the best days of my life, now anyway." A new warmth spread through me, this one had nothing to do with the sun.

"You'll never lose me, Jacob." I whispered. Jacob grinned at me.

"You can bet on that, Ness." I put my hand on his warm neck and pictured our home. I'm sure Jacob could feel my crushing desire for the picture. He chuckled and took my hand from my neck and turned to look as a few of my friends and family started to trickle from the building, melting into the shadows for fear of the sun's ray's revealing them.

"Well we have a hotel stop first so these vamps don't give themselves away with their diamond skin." He said. I sighed but nodded. Just a little longer….home would always be there. In the overcast town of Forks, Washington. Always waiting for me.


	19. 18 Routine

18. Routine

THE FOLIAGE ZOOMED BY WITHOUT ANY INTERUPTION. USUALLY THE MOTONY OF THIS BORED ME, BUT TODAY IT

was a welcome site. The deep rich green was a constant reminder that I was minutes away from home, not longer in the sunny, rust colored world of Volterra. I was sitting in the back of my dad's Aston Martin, sitting next to Jacob and watching the moss draped trees zooming by. My heart was beating erratically in excitement. Every beat was a whisper; _home…home…home…home…home_…..I squeezed Jacob's hand tighter and he squeezed back. I saw my dad smile at my thoughts.

"I'm glad your exited to be home, love. But you do know this means that Alice is ready to release her full wrath. With no more disturbing visions she'll have nothing to distract her from the wedding." Jacob groaned.

"Aww man, you're right. I'm not gonna be able to get out of this." He muttered. I dug my fingernails into his palm and he smiled at me.

"Not the wedding, just the planning part. Relax, Nessie." I grinned and then turned back to the window.

"Mom, are you going to help with the plans?" I asked. My mom sighed.

"Yes, Alice won't let me get out of this either." She grumbled. I laughed, knowing that my mom hated any kind of party planning.

"Maybe we can escape together, Bells." Jacob said, grinning.

"You're on, Jake." I rolled my eyes and watched as a few landmarks started to jump out at me. A twist of anticipation curled in my stomach. My heart started to beat faster as we came to the trees that bordered our long driveway. Adrenaline burned in my legs, I longed to jump out and run, run faster than the car could go, all the way to the front door. My dad chuckled.

"You're free to go, love." My mom guessed at my intentions and she smiled.

"Yes! Let's run!" She said. My dad laughed and then brought the car to a smooth stop. I sprang out of my seat, pulling Jacob behind me. As soon as my feet hit the ground I was running. Jacob was running with me, holding the hand my mom wasn't. The trees flew past me, the familiar smells of home started to breeze past me. It was hard to believe that only twenty-four hours ago I was in a hotel room, gazing out the window as the sun set over Volterra, dying the city a flaming orange.

The humid pre-storm air caressed my face as I ran, it filled my chest with its scent full of promises. We turned a bend and I could see the white house glimmering slightly in the muted light. I slowed to stop, gazing at this final proof that I was safe.

"Welcome home, Nessie." Jacob whispered in my ear. I heard my dad's car pull in behind us, but I had eyes only for my beautiful, beautiful home.

That night I was sitting in Jacob's lap on the couch, while my family sat in various perches around the living room.

"So, what happened next? Gianna had told me that…the wolves had to 'take a nap' or something?" I asked. After we had taken care of the essentials (I called Charlie, who thought I was visiting some friends with Jacob, I slept, took a shower, and hunted) we had converged in the living room so I could find out what had happened while I was locked up in the cell with Seth (who was resting in La Push with the pack, Grandma Sue, Charlie, and Billy.)

"Well, when Quil, Embry, and I woke up we felt really stones, if we didn't have the fast-healing thing we'd probably be showing some kind of head trauma." He rubbed the top of his head and frowned. "We think that they knocked us out and then drugged us or something, we didn't wake up for hours." His face went hard, no doubt remembering the news he had received when he did finally come round.

"I was trying to revive the wolves, but they were out cold despite what I could do. I think that Gianna and Felix used some form of poison, my guess is even a highly diluted form of our venom." Carlisle added. I sucked in my breath and curled myself closer to Jacob. I really hoped Marcus would not put Gianna back together again. I hated her.

"That's horrible." I whispered. Jacob stroked my hair.

"Trust me; it was mild in comparison to what happened next." He said dryly. My dad chuckled.

"I've never seen you so angry before, Jacob. If I wasn't infuriated myself, I would have found it rather entertaining." My dad said, his tone light but his eyes hard. Jacob snorted.

"Yeah well if I hadn't been friggin' catatonic I would have been afraid of Bella." I laughed, I could only imagine how my mom must have been.

"Okay, okay, well what _did _happen next?" I asked.

"Well, we had been tracking your scent for awhile. When we told the werewolves what happened, well Jacob erupted into a wolf and started on a rampage. We already had an idea of who might have kidnapped you-The Volturi- and Jacob was determined to go to Italy and kill them all. We had to stop him, as in physically restrain him, and talk him into phasing back. Which was not easy, believe me." My dad said. Jacob snorted.

"Well whaddya expect? I wake up and she's been kidnapped. How the hell would you feel?" He said, I could hear the anger in his voice. I knew he wasn't mad at my dad, rather he was still mad about the entire ordeal. I wasn't. Being here in my living room, encircled in Jacob's arms, had erased all the ugly emotions from Volterra. I was living in the blissful, blissful moment.

"Trust me, Jacob, you weren't the only one upset." My mom said, her voice a few degrees colder then I would have liked.

"Relax, you both." I said. Jacob sighed and I felt some of the tension melt from his body. I shifted slightly and laid my head on his shoulder. His arms tightened around me and brushed his lips across my hair. I suddenly wished that I was not surrounded by my family. Unfortunately I heard Emmet chuckle, which meant he was very aware of my wishing. Damn.

"Anyway, after that we were trying to brainstorm over where'd you been taken, or who would have kidnapped you. Of course we all expected the Volturi…but we had no proof and it's a death sentence to storm Italy with no plan or real facts. Aro would twist any of our thoughts to make it seem like we wanted to ambush them merely to kill them." Alice said, stroking Jasper's hair away from his forehead (his head was in her lap.)

"So we didn't know what our next step would be. Then I got a phone call." My mom added. She was sitting next to Jacob (thus she was sitting next to me) holding my hand. "When I saw the number I almost didn't answer, I really wasn't in the mood to talk to J at the time. But then Alice nearly ripped my hand off trying to answer the phone." My mom said, laughing. Alice laughed too.

"I saw that whatever he was about to say was going to make an immense difference. The future suddenly got really blurry again! So of course when I saw Bella wasn't going to answer it I had to do it for her." I laughed, and then remembering that one of my family members had actually had a digit ripped off, I glanced at Emmet's hand. Oh, good. He had all his fingers….one of the upsides to being a vampire was the fact that having fingers ripped off was not a finality.

"So anyway J told me that a man had come to his...er...business. he told me that he had looked allot like us. He said that he had asked for a passport for his niece. When he gave J the picture J recognized you! He called me because he knew that Felix wasn't a Cullen. I asked him to describe the man for me and when he did it matched Felix perfectly. So we gathered up everyone we had, and well you saw the rest." My mom laughed. I bit my lip.

"The day I first started talking to Marcus…well right before I woke up I thought I saw Benjamin's head was sticking out from my floor. That wasn't a dream was it?" I asked. I had wondered about this after seeing Benjamin with my group of saviors. I believed in coincidences, but come on….

My mom grinned. "Yes, that was him. We had him create a plan B tunnel into your room just in case….plan A didn't work."

"Why plan A in the first place?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows. Plan A sounded a lot less messy to me.

"Well, our ultimate goal, of course, was to save you, but we also wanted to overthrow the Volturi. When our friends heard of your kidnapping they were outraged and immediately volunteered their help." Carlisle replied calmly. I shrugged and laid my head once again on Jacob's chest. He was wearing a thin T-shirt and I could feel his warm pulse beneath my cheek. My eyelids drooped with a sudden wave of exhaustion. I wanted to sleep. Maybe after one last question….

"Where are Nahuel and his aunt?" I asked. The question had occurred to me awhile back, but I was to distracted with my immense joy to give it much thought at the time. I loved Nahuel like a brother in many ways, he had even stayed with us for awhile after the Volturi had decided I would live….but our conflicting diets had caused to much trouble and in the end he and he aunt left, but we still kept in contact and I even had visited him a few times before. The fact that he wasn't among my friends made me slightly sad in a selfish way. I was even more confused when Emmet chuckled and my dad smiled.

"Nahuel is in a rather complicated part of his life right now." My dad said.

_ Little more information would be nice, dad._

My dad laughed. "Well, you see he has fallen in love with a girl from a local village. It seems that he was hunting there when he first saw her. Now he can barely stand to be away from her and his aunt is quiet frantic with worry over what to do. Quiet a situation, so as you can see they couldn't spare there time, even though both of them were very concerned about you. I told Zafrina to let them know your fine." My eyebrows knitted together, I had not been expecting that answer.

"I hope he has a happy ending." I murmured. Jacob stroked my cheek and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Come on, Nessie. I can tell you're exhausted. You need some sleep."

"Wait. I have one more question." I said stubbornly. I could hear the sleep in my voice and feel it in my limbs, but I would not sleep until all the little pieces had fallen together.

"What is it, love?" My dad asked, I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"I…I heard mom's lullaby. Who was that?" My mom smiled and my dad chuckled.

"That was me." He said. "It was a risk really, sneaking into the Volturi and everything…but we had the selfish to impulse to let you know we were coming for you. Luckily it didn't backfire." I snickered.

"Yeah, it only gave me panic attack." Partly true. I was also drunk of hope. Jacob laughed and then squeezed my hand.

"Satisfied, Ness? You need sleep." He said.

"Yes, Nessie. Let's get you to bed." My dad said. I curled my arms around Jacob's neck. I would not leave him. My dad sighed at my stubborn thoughts.

"Jacob needs sleep as well, Renesmee." My dad said sternly. Jacob's arms tightened around me. I knew neither of us were ready to be separated for any amount of time. My dad sighed and my mom appeared at his arm.

"Just let them sleep here. Both of them are about to pass out as it is, she might not make it to the cottage." My mom laughed. My dad narrowed his eyes and I could sense his reluctance to let Jacob and me sleep in a close vicinity.

"Relax, daddy. We're in the middle of the main house." I murmured. I felt Jacob chuckle softly beneath me. My dad sighed and then shrugged.

"Fine….lets go, love." He said to my mom. She nodded and then leaned down to kiss my forhead.

"Love you, Nessie." She whispered.

"Love you too, mom." I smiled, half asleep. She laughed and took y dad's hand, he brushed my curls from my face.

"Sleep well." He said. Then with a rush of wind, they were gone.

"Really sleep is so inconvenient. I mean, I have so much wedding work to do now that Nessie is back! I really need to order the dresses…and book the caterer…I'll need a human for the tasting…hmmm." I heard Alice start to prattle. But I could barely focus on anything, the sound of Jacob's beating heart was like a lullaby. My eyes drifted closed and I felt my conscious start to slip away.

"I love you, Nessie." Jacob whispered suddenly in my ear.

"I...love you…Jacob." I said, my mind seconds away from sleep. I wasn't sure when exactly I slipped into dreams, but when I did, there were no nightmares. The Volturi gone from my mind.

"…salmon colored would be the best. What? What do you mean you only have red….mmm..well could you _please_ make a few? I promise you will not regret it….Morgan. Yes, Mary Morgan. Really? Excellent!" Alice's cajoling voice woke me from my deep slumber. By the sound of her request, and use of fake name number four-hundred-and-three that she was ordering things for my wedding.

She definitely didn't waste time.

I yawned widely and cracked my eyes open. Judging by the fatter, yellower sunshine that was streaming in from the windows, it was closer to afternoon then morning. I could feel Jacob's slow breathing beneath me. He was still asleep. I looked up at his face and smiled to myself; he always looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, his face relaxed, his eyelids sometimes flickering. I looked around and saw Alice sitting at her computer, her cell phone jammed between her cheek and shoulder, her fingers flying across the keys with such speed a human wouldn't be able to see it.

"Jack? Oh, hello! Yes it's Cynthia Whitlock. Oh? Yes I need to place an order. A wedding. Mhm, yes I was thinking first course would be a selection of hors d'oeuvres…" She chattered on. I smiled to myself and then rested my head back on Jacob's chest. I could hear my family buzzing around, doing their usual activities of the day. Acting as if they hadn't been in Italy over twenty-four hours ago on a daring rescue mission, about to risk their existences.

No biggie.

After a few minutes I felt Jacob's heart rate pick up, become steady and even as his breathing quickened.

"Ermmthppgh…." He mumbled and his arms tightened around me as he yawned and straightened up.

"Morning, sleepy head." I teased lightly. His eyes opened and he grinned lazily at me.

"And how long have you been awake? Couple minutes?" He said, chuckling.

"How'd you know?" I said, smiling. He shrugged and then twirled one a strand of my hair around his finger.

"Your hair's still all flat from sleeping on it. When you're up for awhile it gets all curly again." I cocked my head. It was amazing, every tiny detail about me he knew. Even things _I _didn't know about myself. Alice turned suddenly.

"Hey, wolf, what do you like better; stuffed mushrooms or caviar on crackers with lemon?" Alice asked, holding the phone away from her mouth. Jacob made a face.

"Eww, gross, neither." He said. I laughed.

"Go with the caviar, its fish eggs, right? Grampa loves fish." But what about fish spawn? Human palates were so confusing….

Alice nodded and then turned back to her computer.

"Alright, add the caviar to the menu…yes? Oh…yes I prefer thinner crackers. Flavoring? Mm, pepper, I think would be nice." I loved how she talked as if she ate any of that human crap. Jacob chuckled and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"I can't wait to see Billy eating caviar." He laughed again. Alice turned and pressed her slim white finger to her lips.

"…alright that sounds fantastic…now for the desserts I was thinking…" Alice started talking again. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.

"You must be hungry, Jacob." As if on cue his stomach growled loudly. He grinned sheepishly and I leapt from his lap and landed soundlessly on the ground. He hopped up and wrapped his large dark hand around mine.

"Come on, maybe I can get your dad to cook me something…."

"So, champagne? I think that would be the best…maybe some bear blood disguised as red wine!" Alice laughed at her own joke and then scribbled something in her little violet wedding planner. I sighed and combed through the side of my air, watching as my curls sprang back into shape.

"Alice, you know I hate human food as much as you do. I really don't have a preference."

"Well then you need a better imagination." She said and then erased something. I giggled and rolled my eyes. It was later that night and I was brushing my hair like I did every night while Alice interrogated me about the wedding plans. Her hand darted to the seat next to her and she picked up her cell phone.

"Well do you have any kind of preference about the wedding invitations?" She asked, already scrolling through her contacts. I smiled.

"I was thinking cream and forest green with some yellow highlights." I replied casually. She nodded.

"I can see that." She pressed an entry and then pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Hello, Frank! This is Vera Hale….yes it's good to hear from you, too. Yes, I have an order. Mhm, yes I'd like the two-hundred pack, please….." She started barking out instructions for the invitations and I leaned my head against the couch. Jacob was down in La Push, checking up on Seth and Billy. I had wanted to go too, but I decided that this was more of a werewolf pack affair. My eyes fluttered closed. I couldn't believe it; I had slept for over twenty-four hours and yet here I was, exhausted. It was twilight outside, and most of my family was away hunting. I wondered briefly what Marcus was doing…I hoped he was okay…if any vampire turned on him, could he fight back? A tickle of anxiety slid down my spine and I decided to write him a letter as soon as possible to make sure he was okay. Alice pressed "End" on her phone and sighed.

"Darn, those invites are going to get here last minute. Frank said they would be done in a week…I wonder if he knew that Joan was going on vacation? Well, whatever." She fumed silently to herself, intermixing the present with her visions.

"Oh, and by the way, Marcus is fine. I can see him having a bumpy but safe transference into total power." She said, looking at her nails. I cocked my head. Alice must have seen me writing the letter. She picked up her notebook.

"Oh, and by the way, Jacob's about to come through the front door." She said casually. I sprang up and ran to the door, swinging it open. Jacob's fist was poised against thin air, ready to knock at the door I had just swung open.

"Alice?" He asked.

"Alice." I nodded. We both laughed. I threw my arms around his neck and burrowed my face into his neck.

"Nice to see you too, Ness." He chuckled and kissed my hair. I pushed my hand into his neck, picturing Seth.

"He's fine, most of his injuries are healed and now all he's got to worry about is the fact that Sue and Leah may never let him out of the house again." He said, grinning I turned my head and pressed my lips to his. I always got so caught up in kissing Jacob that I really didn't notice anything around us.

At least, not until Emmet started making lewd comments from behind Jacob.

I peered around Jacob's hair and saw that my family was back from their hunting trip. I glared at Emmet and then pulled Jacob into the house, muttering darkly.

As soon as we entered the house Alice started bombarding us.

"Edward I need to get you scheduled for a fitting. Jacob, who are your grooms going to be? Nessie, pick a maid of honor for the love of god! Rosalie didn't get to do it last time, so please don't worry about making me feel bad. Just pick dammit! Oh, and Emmet, Jasper, and Carlisle all of you need to look out at all the tux selections I have. And yes, Bella, you are getting involved in some dress plans, please?" She was talking so fast I, the half vampire, was having a hard time catching up.

Finally my mom slapped her hand over Alice's mouth.

"Alice. Be. Quit." She said. Alice rolled her amber eyes and then brushed my mom's hand away.

"Oh calm down, Bella. I've only got a couple months to do this wedding!"


End file.
